


Why

by shumais



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, kokichi living past chapter 5
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:13:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27952145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shumais/pseuds/shumais
Summary: Kokichi blinked. So that’s why he was still alive. Shuichi had started talking again, he blocked him out. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. “..It wasn’t supposed to be this way.” He muttered. Shuichi stopped mid sentence, raising an eyebrow. His eyes widened at the sight of Kokichi doubled over with hoarse laughter erupting from him.
Relationships: Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi
Comments: 22
Kudos: 275





	1. Chapter 1

Kokichi gasped sharply, mind immediately jumping to puzzlement. None of this made any sense, because he was supposed to be dead, correct? Crushed to bits under a hydraulic press, and the only thing proving he even existed would be the blood under it. So..

He couldn’t grasp onto his thoughts any longer as pain coursed throughout his body. His eyelids were heavy the same way his body was, so they never opened. Instead, he tried pushing himself up but the stabbing pain that shot through his arm sent him falling back. That was no better, because once he hit his back more pain came after him. He suppressed a scream, only a strangled noise coming from him. His eyes finally flutter open and the world is a blur.

Was this hell? Well he couldn’t tell cause he could barely see anything, but he did see a silhouette in front of him. That made him jolt upright, regret as even more pain swirled within his damn arm. The silhouette was moving, it’s hand reaching out placing itself onto his shoulder gently. Who was this, where was he, why was he  _alive?_

Their touch was cold, yet comforting. Fuck, he doesn’t need comfort. He doesn’t need _pity._ Kokichi swatted the hand away, but that hand was holding his crumbling frame up and he fell onto his back again. This time he screamed, making the silhouette flail around in panic. He tried to make out who it was, but it was impossible. And he still doesn’t know why the hell he’s alive! 

There was a noise, muttering. They were speaking, to him? God, this was all so complicated. He just wished he was dead right now, that’s what was supposed to happen. He’s supposed to be dead, whoever this is was supposed to be at the trial. 

“..C-Can you hear me..?” _Barely_. He squinted, still trying to figure out who this is. Then his vision started to focus, it was Shuichi. Shuichi. He shot up again, and moved back, falling off the bed in the process.  _ It hurts, it hurts. Why is he here.. it hurts so fucking bad. _

He attempts lifting himself off the floor once more, colliding with it when his shaking arms gave out. The last thing he sees before blacking out again is a distressed Shuichi. He’s speaking, or shouting would be a better way to describe it. He wonders what he’s going on about.

* * *

Slowly, he regains consciousness. Shuichi is still there, his eyes widening at the sight of him awakening. And now he’s speaking again, great. But it doesn’t sound like the two of them are underwater anymore. “O-Ouma-kun. Can you hear me?” Shuichi asks. He stares at him. Before Shuichi repeats himself he gives a slight nod. 

“..You’re probably confused, right?” Shuichi deduced, and he nods again. The detective began fiddling with his hands. “Last night, I’m not sure what happened.. but Harukawa-san took me from my room out of nowhere. She was yelling about antidotes for strike 9 poison, and when I got to my lab one of them was missing. In fact the entire lab was a mess, but I didn’t have a chance to ask because she needed my assistance. We were able to find another one.. ah this is dragging on..” 

He cleared his throat. “We found you and Momota-kun walking towards the hydraulic press. He saw I had the antidote and made me give it to you. Harukawa-san yelled at him, and you ended up passing out. Then he somehow calmed her down, It was all happening too fast. Nobody else wanted to watch over you so I.. decided to.” He finished.

Kokichi blinked. So that’s why he was still alive. Shuichi had started talking again, he blocked him out. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. “..It wasn’t supposed to be this way.” He muttered. Shuichi stopped mid sentence, raising an eyebrow. His eyes widened at the sight of Kokichi doubled over with hoarse laughter erupting from him.

“Im supposed to be dead Saihara-chan.. I cant be here. This is a lie, right? It’s just a funny joke!” He laughs again, trailing off at Shuichi’s unchanging expression. “Please tell me I’m dead, please please..” He pleaded. Shuichi stared briefly at him before averting his gaze. “This is all bullshit.” He seethed as he pushed himself off bed. 

Shuichi fidgeted. “Ouma-kun-“

“Shut up, shut the hell up! Why would you do that, it would’ve worked. The plan c-could’ve worked but you fucking asshole.. IT’S ALL RUINED NOW!” Shuichi’s concerned expression made him furious, because he shouldn’t be concerned, he should be happy he was going to die back then. ..Yeah.

A pained grinned stretched across his face. “..And what you did was stupid, you really decided to save the mastermind? The one who instigated all the deaths here? Who found enjoyment over you all killing each other one by one? Now that I’m still alive, I’ll happily start the killing game again as payback.” He pointed at him. “And you.. you’ll be the victim, got it.. I’ll-“ 

Shuichi’s gaze hardened. “You’re not the mastermind, Momota-kun told us.” 

..

More and more anger bubbled within him. “And you’d really believe that idiot..?”  _ Just keep going, it can’t fall apart yet.. not yet. _ His eyes burned, tears threatening to spill out any second now. Shuichi stood, putting his hands up. “Ouma-kun.” 

“Just shut up already, you better get out of here before I.. before I kill you.” Shuichi wasn’t even supposed to be here because he didn’t want to be here. Everyone else had despised him already and the kindhearted Shuichi would obviously be the only one to watch over him. But he knew deep down that he held hatred for him, maybe even holding back a jeering cackle from the pathetic state he was currently in. 

He gripped the front of Shuichi’s shirt, burying his head there to prevent himself from collapsing again. 

“Kill me. Let’s make an unsolvable case together M-Saihara-chan.” He almost called him Momota, as if he were still in the hangar, still clinging onto the idea that Kaito would kill him and they’d end this. Shuichi stayed still, waiting for him to say anything else. When nothing came.. “..I won’t do that. Can you sit please, I don’t want you to hurt yourself more.” 

His grip tightened, and he lifted his head to glower at the detective, to call him out for his shitty lie. Shuichi just stared back at him sympathetically, pulling him back down to the bed. 

“Why did you save me, at that moment you still believed I was the mastermind.” He questioned fretfully.

“Even if you were the mastermind, I wouldn’t want you dead. You know.. when me and the others saw the flashback light, I started thinking about your reveal. It didn’t make sense. How the ‘mastermind’ would just reveal themselves so suddenly and then stop all of this..?” Shuichi replied.

“How are you so sure i’m not the mastermind.” Stupid question, wasn’t it? Because the irksome Luminary of the Stars said he wasn’t. And no matter what, they’d always believe him. 

“Because you were trying to end it all, that’s why you asked Momota-kun to kill you. I didn’t believe it at first when he told me, but when I thought about all of it.. that made more sense then you being the mastermind.” Shuichi informed, still sounding as if he was pondering this revelation.

So clever. “I killed Gonta and Iruma.” He stated. Shuichi tensed up at that. “..And.. it’s unforgivable. But you didn’t do it for no reason, I acknowledge that.” 

“Saihara-chan should hate me.” He tries.  _ Please, just hate me already. I can try again, just please- _

“But I don’t.” 

He narrowed his eyes, Shuichi kept going. “I’ve been frustrated with you, but I never hated you. Also.. there aren’t many of us left.. instead of hating each other, we should continue working together. We need to take down the mastermind so this killing game doesn’t go on anymore. So stop trying to make me hate you, it’s pointless.”  They fell into silence, Shuichi started to feel like what he said was hostile. 

“Okay.” he breathed out, finally embracing this inevitable failure. He would’ve just let Shuichi pick out the truth and lies between his statements before his mastermind plan if it meant he didn’t have to gaze upon the small smile Shuichi kept allowing him to witness. Shuichi then suggested he should continue resting. There was no reason to argue anymore, he was so tired.

But even as he attempted to fall back into the clutches of sleep, distasteful thoughts continued to linger in his mind. How it was all for nothing, every single thing he did up to this point was for nothing. Gonta and Miu died, and now that the plan was ruined their deaths were for nothing. If he died, would it have also been for nothing? Because Shuichi is so smart.. he’d definitely see through it.

Shuichi looked over to him, noticing his distress. “Ouma-kun.” His eyes travel to the detective’s face. Shuichi gave a comforting smile. “It’ll be okay.” 

It didn’t completely erase all of the thoughts dancing around his frying brain, but he calmed down.  As he slowly drifted off to sleep again, the bears in his brain began to turn and a new plan was in the works. Something to end this all, so that those who died would not die in vain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what if there was two antidotes. that’d be so cool if there were two. i cant remember if the game said there was only one antidote for each poison and if that’s true then i just think it’s impossible. everything in v3 is impossible but like, how- so y’know what, fuck canon 
> 
> maybe i just made this fic cause i’m still in denial of ch 5 ,,


	2. Chapter 2

Kokichi stares ahead purposely so he didn’t have to meet Shuichi’s eyes. His attempt to get rest was a fail, maybe it was the pain from his wounds getting in the way of being pulled into the peacefulness that sleep is, or the suffocating thoughts of Miu and Gonta’s deaths being meaningless.  Now he’s stuck in this world, forced to face his actions and let the truth he was able to be blind to tear his entire being to shreds. 

He remembers everything from the previous night now. When Kaito was dragging him to the press. When the shutter opened and Shuichi and Maki came storming in. When Kaito’s eyes locked with the antidote in Shuichi’s hand. When he was forced to down it. 

“I think Saihara-chan should apologize..” The confused expression resting on Shuichi’s face tells him to elaborate. “For ruining my plan.” 

Shuichi averted his gaze. “I’m.. sorry..? I didn’t even know what was going on at the time. But I think it’s better this way.. nobody else needs to die to this game.” 

It was supposed to be a joke to lift the sour mood filling the air, but now he’s just more angry. “You didn’t have to apologize.. I..” He trailed off. 

He curls up into a ball under his sheets, staring at the bandages on his arm with glazed over eyes. Would you believe that Maki was the one who treated his wounds? Shuichi told him that, he sure as hell has a hard time believing it.

At the moment, he hates Shuichi. He hates that the detective won’t leave him to die, that he even brought the extra antidote for him in the first place. He hates the way Shuichi has stayed by him this entire time. He hates the way he still gives him chances after everything. He hates the way he smiled at him not long ago. 

But then he loves him, loves the fact that he even gets this. That someone still thinks he’s deserving of kindness. And then tears that have been waiting ages to spill out finally do, they soak his sheets, and he keeps the strangled cries escaping him as quiet as possible. Shuichi would worry, because he’s just that kind of person, he worries about everyone. And then he shuts his eyes in defeat when he comes to this realization. It’s fake isn’t it? The worry that’s always visible on his face, just like when he nicked his finger all those days ago.

Shuichi does worry when he sees him tremble for a few seconds, when there’s faint sniffles, but there’s nothing he can do. There was never anything he could do for him, and because of that he reached a point where he believed his life was useless, and he would’ve utilized it to bring the killing game to a close. 

Would’ve, that’s right, he’s still alive. One good thing he was able to do.. save someone. After the never ending cycle of discovering a body, and using his talent to send their friends off to death has stopped, he’s somewhat elated. Maybe now they can all end this together, get over their distaste for each other for just a second so they can work together.

Kokichi turns his head to face Shuichi again, his eyes mixed with sadness and frustration. “I killed Gonta and Iruma-chan.” 

He stiffens, not getting a word in as Kokichi continues. “A-And I was gonna get Momota-chan killed too, y’know? So why don’t you just leave, why do you still wanna stay stuck here with a murderer?” 

Why does he say that? Shuichi absentmindedly lifts a hand to his chin. Kokichi only orchestrated Miu’s murder, it’s still wrong no matter how you see it.. but he acts like he’s the one who wrapped the toilet paper around her neck. He tricked Gonta into taking the flashback light, but Gonta knew what he was doing when he agreed to Kokichi’s plan.. but he acts like he was the one who shoved him into that execution. 

There are so many conflicting thoughts when it comes to the things Kokichi has done, so he says nothing. Instead he heaves an exasperated sigh, locking eyes with Kokichi again. 

“I’m going to get something to eat, can you come with me?” He asks with patience. 

Kokichi sits up with eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “..Why?” 

Shuichi tilts his head to the side. “Well.. You should eat something too. I’d also feel better if you were with me.”

A grin stretches across Kokichi’s face, he understands the hidden meaning behind that statement. Shuichi’s afraid he’ll kill himself or something while he’s gone. The glare received from Shuichi after his badly timed silence makes him huff. “I wouldn’t try to do anything bad, but fine.”

Shuichi nods slowly, asking if it’s not too hard for him to walk still. Honestly, he’s only taken a few steps but he wants to collide with the ground and be pulled into the world of unconsciousness right now. But he smiles and says he’s fine. He throws on a shirt, pushes past the detective hastily and steps out his room. He was able to catch the small frown on Shuichi’s face before they made their way to the dining hall. 

Maki would be there, Kaito would be there, everyone.. would be there. He’d be dangled in the air by his neck once again the second Maki lays eyes on him. Or stared at in horror by Tsumugi or Himiko, maybe even earning a few high pitched screams. He can’t even bring a few teasing remarks to lay on the tip of his tongue, ready to be shot at Kiibo like always. And Kaito..

He stops dead in his tracks, eyes widening. Shuichi notices, and starts taking a few steps towards him before they both stiffen at a bloodcurdling scream that’s not far from them. 

“H-Huh..?” Shuichi mutters, as if Kokichi has the answer to what the hell that was. He grabs Shuichi’s arm and drags them to where the scream came from. The dining hall most likely.. because everyone’s gathering there for dinner, and if what he thinks caused the scream is true then..

He glances up at Shuichi for a second, taking in his terrified expression that would soon twist into.. one with much more sorrow. Maybe he should keep him away from the commotion instead, but they already made it inside. They both freeze at the doorway.

In the middle of the room, lay Kaito’s cold dead body.

Neither realize what’s going on, all they can do is stare as Maki shakes Kaito desperately with tears streaming down her face. Then Shuichi’s breath catches in his throat. “M-Momota-kun!?” 

He dashes frantically over to the two, crouching beside Kaito’s body. He checks for a pulse, and Kokichi assumes there’s nothing when Shuichi falls to his knees with a low whimper.

He stares at the other three, who had just noticed he entered the room. Kiibo stepped in front of Tsumugi and Himiko with an arm shielding them. “Ouma-kun..” 

“Why are you here!?” Himiko shouted as she trembled behind Kiibo’s protection. Tsumugi threw her hands in front of her as if she were shielding herself from an attack. “T-The Remnant of Despair..!”

“Remnant of Despair..?” He whispers to himself. He pays the group no mind, instead turning his attention back to the new victim. “Who killed him?”

Maki’s crystal red eyes pierced right through him. “S-Shut up.” 

He scowled, looking at the other three again. Himiko pulled the brim of her hat down. “Nobody killed him.. everyone was surprised to see Momota again, so he started telling us everything.. then he stood up so suddenly and started coughing a lot.. and he fell over.. and..”

He tunes the rest of what she has to say out. So he was right.. the illness got to him. But then why wasn’t-

“Where.. is the body discovery announcement?” Tsumugi speaks his thoughts into existence with her gaze pinned on the monitors. Kiibo nodded in agreement. “You’re right.. doesn’t it usually sound when at least three people discover a body?” 

Shuichi wiped his tear filled eyes. “Could it be..” He glances at Kokichi. “Since the Exisals are still surrounding Monokuma, he isn’t aware someone died. And..” He goes silent.

Kokichi knows what he was gonna say, that since everyone was here, the mastermind was also amongst them. They couldn’t set Monokuma free anytime soon, it would automatically give their identity away. 

So everyone stares at Kaito’s unmoving figure again. The killing game wouldn’t continue.. it’s over, and yet this doesn’t even feel like a victory. One more life was taken away from their already small group to pay for this ‘victory’ that wouldn’t last long. All except him, and Kiibo since he doesn’t have the ability to shed tears, cry for Kaito. 

Then Maki waves a hand for everyone to move back, and she slings one of Kaito’s arms over her shoulder. “I’ll.. find somewhere to put him.. it’d be better for a corpse to stay out of where we eat.. and I’ll clean up the mess when I’m done.” She says with a sniffle.

Shuichi nods weakly, watching as she unsteadily makes her way out of the dining hall with him.

Then everyone turns to Kokichi. Shuichi’s face isn’t filled with the same anger or confusion as the others. Himiko wags a finger at him. “You never answered my question! Why are you here.. shouldn’t you be doing mastermind things!?” 

That’s right, three of them still think he’s the mastermind. His lips curl into a grin, but Shuichi speaks before he gets a chance to bring back that abandoned lie. “Ouma-kun isn’t the mastermind, he lied.” 

He frowns after seeing the others become less tense, then Tsumugi speaks up. “W-What if he lied about that..? We saw him control the Exisals.. and he’s also a Remnant of Despair.. we shouldn’t trust him, right!?”

Himiko and Kiibo stare at him, frowns stuck on their faces. “I.. I don’t care, I’ve had enough of this distrusting stuff! I’m tired of it.. because no matter what, our friends keep dying. Look what happened to Momota.. he wasn’t even murdered!” Himiko shouts, startling everyone else in the process.

Tsumugi reaches to comfort her, but Himiko swats her hands away and turns to the door. “Even with hope.. people are still dying.. so what’s the point of trust or distrust anymore if you’ll die no matter what?” Then she stormed out. 

Silence takes over again, before Tsumugi sighs. “So we’re just giving up again? Alright then..” She gives everyone a halfhearted smile. Well except for Kokichi, she stares at him, a glint of anger in her eyes before she scurried away.

To anyone else, that look would’ve been something that leant more towards fear. That would make sense, everyone thinks he’s a Remnant of Despair. He has no idea what the hell that is, but it must be something threatening. Instead, her eyes were filled with hatred for what could be a completely different reason, similar to the hatred in Maki’s eyes whenever she catches glimpse of him. 

Kiibo fiddled with his hands. “Saihara-kun, Ouma-kun, are you two alright? Your silence is concerning.” 

Kokichi only glowers at him, the one who looked like he would fight him without hesitation minutes ago asking if he’s alright? Strange. “Why is Kiiboy worried about little ol’ me? I’m a.. Remnant of Despair.. whatever that is.” His voice became quieter near the end. 

“Yes, that is true. But my inner voice is telling me that I can trust you.. so I’ll go with it.” Kiibo states proudly, even placing his fists on his hips with a bright smile. Of course the robot would still have the energy to smile after someone dies..

Shuichi sniffled. “Yeah.. I’m fine Kiibo-kun. What about you?” 

Kiibo taps his chin, smile slipping back into a frown. “I’m upset about Momota-kun.. this was all so sudden, did he lie to us? About his illness.. was it more fatal than we believed it was?” He stares at the floor with sad eyes. “But I suppose I’m happy as well, since this is the end of the killing game. It’s so wrong to feel more happiness than sadness.. but it seems that is all I can do.”

_ Heartless as always, Kiiboy!  _ Kokichi watches with disinterest as Kiibo wishes them both of them goodnight and was out of the dining hall. Now he and Shuichi stand beside each other in a deafening silence. For some reason, he’s afraid to look him in the eye. He just lost someone close to him, there’s no reason for him to open his mouth and let out his stupid words in attempt to lift the mood. It would just result in him being more upset.

Shuichi looks down at him instead. “..D-Do.. you still want to eat? I-“ “No, lets go back. I’m sick of this place.” He replies almost instantly. Shuichi nods hesitantly, then they finally leave. They walk down the paths of the academy that’s caused the deaths of many. They walk into the building that hold their dorm rooms, which were created by the bastards who shoved them into this prison. He swings the door open to his room that doesn’t allow him freedom either, and his legs give out.

Shuichi grips the back of his shirt before he hits the floor. Kokichi turns his head just a bit to see the worry in the others eyes before he grins. Shuichi sighs, a little amused that he’s reverting back to his old self.

Now they sit beside each other on Kokichi’s bed. It’s so out of place, but Shuichi starts chuckling. “It’s.. It’s so weird.” 

Kokichi stares at his nails with disinterest. “What’s weird? Don’t try being cryptic now.”

Shuichi drums his fingers on his thighs. “Momota-kun.. I don’t understand it, but I don’t feel as sad as I should be. It does hurt, him dying so suddenly after we broke him out of the hangar.. I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye.” His face twists into a grimace. “And Harukawa-san.. she’s affected by this too.. but me? What’s going on.. why don’t I feel anything?”

“Looks like we’re the same! I didn’t feel anything either! I mean sure.. Momota-chan and I weren’t close, but you’ve gotta feel something for the dead. Hey, maybe we felt nothing because we’re so used to this now.” Kokichi says flatly.

Shuichi hangs his head. “..That makes sense.. but I never wanted to get used to this. None of us did.” 

And that’s so cruel, isn’t it? How they promised they’d never let the killing game start, and the one almost all trusted starts it up for them shortly after. How murder after murder, execution after execution, their reactions have less of any emotion packed into them, to the point where they’re like this.. emotionless meat bags who can’t even care if a close friend died.

Kokichi can’t even care, maybe all his emotions were sucked out his skin the second Maki’s arrow sunk into it. He always wanted.. to live, but now he barely cares for that fantasy. Just like Himiko said, what’s the point of trusting or untrusting if you’re just gonna die in the end? What’s the point of all this.. staying alive in this school along with the ghosts of ten Ultimates that deserved to live, that deserved to be set free from this enclosure and back to their normal lives, crawling around and taunting you. What’s the point of living when the outside world.. when the outside world..

He shifts around to sit up straight, running a hand through his mop of hair. “Holy shit..that’s right, it was a lie.”

Shuichi stares in bewilderment at the suddenness of this statement. “What? What are you talking about?” 

Giggles escape Kokichi. “That fucking.. the outside world! Saihara-chan.” He places both his hands on the other’s shoulders. “I need you to listen okay? Listen carefully.” 

Shuichi nods, expression morphing into something more determined and intrigued. He starts. “This has been a theory I’ve had for a while now, this killing game being a show. We all thought the outside world was destroyed didn’t we?” He looks at Shuichi, waiting for an indication he was still following. Shuichi gives a nod, urging him to continue. 

“But then I thought.. killing games are meant to be watched. Why put so much time and dedication into this school, taking the time to even find sixteen of us, the motives, the shitty rules.. why put so much effort if nobody was watching. If it was just the mastermind watching, then I believe they’d be satisfied with whatever they get. That’s not the case though, it’s like they’re doing all this to satisfy someone. That wouldn’t work if every single human besides us was dead right?”

Shuichi nods again, his eyes growing a bit wider. Kokichi throws his arms up in the air as he finishes this off. “So that’s it! The outside world we saw was a lie! There are still people out there.. and they’re watching this killing game!” Maybe he sounded a bit too cheerful near the end, being watched is an unpleasant thing after all..

He watches Shuichi place a hand over his mouth, his thinking gesture. There’s many emotions mashed together on his face, but he removes his hand and reveals a small grin. “That.. That sounds crazy, unbelievable, stupid even.”

Kokichi shoots him a glare before his expression softens at the detective’s faint laughter. “But that’s how everything here is, right? It’s all crazy, unbelievable, and definitely stupid. Your theory makes a lot of sense when you think about it with the logic of this place.. but that just makes me question, where are we?” 

Where are they indeed.. he never took the time to think about that since it wasn’t important. There’s an outside world.. and they can get to it, they can escape this place. He doesn’t believe the killing game is over, because the mastermind sneaks around at night.. as they speak, that asshole is probably scooping Monokuma away from his Exisal prison. There shouldn’t be a trial for Kaito’s case, since everyone is aware of the cause of death. It’d be pointless for their dear audience to watch something like that, It’d be boring.

“How about we do one more class trial, Saihara-chan?” He suggests. Shuichi stared at him incredulously. “But the killing game is over..” 

He bursts into laughter. “Oh c’mon! Don’t tell me you actually thought it’d be over cause Monokuma was being guarded by a few Exisals! Life’s not that simple Mr. Detective!” He starts pinching Shuichi’s cheeks, laughter growing louder when his face becomes flushed. 

Shuichi grabs his wrists gently. “S-Stop that..! Anyways.. what would we even do in that trial?”

He frees his hands from the others hold, grinning once again. “Remember Amami-chan’s case? There was always something.. _off_ about it to me. Maybe we can find more clues and get a different result?”

Shuichi sees where he’s going with this. “Something off..? Do you think they broke the rules?”

He nods, scowling a bit. “The bastards.. it was the first murder, they probably twisted it and broke as many rules as they wanted because it would be to start the killing game. If we can call the mastermind out for that.. maybe we can end the game!”

They’re both smiling widely at each other as they fling ideas for the trial at each other, they don’t realize how deep they got into this until the nighttime announcement snaps them out of it, and of course the seat that Monokuma used to sit in was still empty.

He deflated when he noticed the tired look in the detective’s eyes. This was fun.. theorizing with him, he never thought he’d get to do something like this. He was supposed to be dead, but he shakes that off. There’s no reason to dwell on that failed attempt anymore. 

He pushes Shuichi back, making sure his head hits the pillow and not anything hard. “Okay! That’s enough, detective’s need sleep!”

Shuichi shook his head. “This is your bed though.. and you’re still hurt. I think it’d be better if you regained your strength before we end this.” 

He narrowed his eyes in frustration. “Saihara-chan has been watching me all day! And he’s so weird for that.. but that means he deserves a break! So sleep, and enjoy getting to even sleep in the bed of the Ultimate Supreme Leader!”

The unamused look on Shuichi’s face makes him snicker again. In the end, Shuichi accepts this.. his exhaustion must finally be catching up to him. It’s a bit cute to him when Shuichi starts hugging the pillow.

Then he lets his expression shift into a glare. “Oh you’re an idiot, I thought you were better than this.” The coldness of his voice nearly causes Shuichi to shudder. “What do you mean?”

Kokichi looks away from him and mutters. “You’d just sleep peacefully with someone dangerous like me by your side? I’m a Remnant of Despair.. really, it’s stupid.” He still has no idea what that is, but if it’s something everyone else held distaste for.. Shuichi shouldn’t be resting around something that dangerous right?

“I think it’s a lie.” Shuichi says quietly. 

He furrows his eyebrows with a pout. “And why do you think that?” 

Shuichi cracks his eyes open slightly. “I trust you.” He says with a soft smile that could possibly cause whoever a smile like that is directed to melt into a puddle. And then he’s out, soft snores escaping him, and Kokichi is left alone with his thoughts.

There was no pulling out the facts of the time they spent together today, obvious proof going against the untrustworthy person everyone claimed he was. Instead he just states he trusts him, and it’s frustrating.. he sounds just like Kaito and his constant blind trust. But Shuichi’s different he supposes, he has such a clever, thoughtful way of approaching things.. just like how he approached him the first time they spent their free time together. Maybe.. when they all get out of this place, he’d let himself fully trust Shuichi as the fear of being betrayed would wither away, as they’d embrace their new lives on the outside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah, this is unexpected
> 
> i was planning to keep this fic as a oneshot because i had no idea what to do with the idea after, but then this idea came randomly (like everything else does) so one more chapter,, i hope anyone who liked this before enjoyed the update
> 
> there was gonna be a scene with maki and kokichi near the end,, but i didn’t think it would fit in or be that satisfying here. also so sorry that shuichi got over kaito’s death a bit too quickly, really wasn’t my intention ,, curse the game for this as well
> 
> for now i’m not too sure if this will continue, i apologize


	3. Chapter 3

The soft knocks hitting the door cause Shuichi’s eyes to flutter open. Then they become more impatient, almost frantic, and he shoots upright. Was that all a dream? How long had he slept through the knocking? Did he lose the chance to save Kokichi-

The panic that began to rise went back into hiding when he spots Kokichi curled up in a ball, sleeping soundly inches away from him. He lets out a sigh of relief, bringing his attention back to the now dying knocks on the door.

He does a few brief stretches before making his way to the door. When he pulls it open, it reveals Maki standing in front of him with her arms crossed over her chest. They make eye contact before she stares off into the distance. “Morning.” 

He rubs the sleep from his eyes. “Morning.. why are you up so early?” The sun had barely risen, geez..

Maki combs her fingers in one of her pigtails. “Couldn’t sleep.” Makes sense.. Kaito had reached his demise last night, and Maki spent however much time dragging his body around on her shoulder. Where did she end up taking him?

She clears her throat, knocking him out of this thoughts. “Anyways.. how’s Ouma?” 

His eyes widen in surprise. “You’re worried about him..?” She shoots him a glare for a split second before turning her entire body away. “No, I just don’t want _another_ class trial to start up. Momota wouldn’t want that either.”

Not surprising, in fact he should’ve expected that was the reason the second she asked.. he sighs again. “He’s fine.” 

She nods, taking a few steps away before he calls out to her. “Harukawa-san.” She stops in her tracks, he takes this chance to go on. “..We’re gonna get out of this place, all of us.” 

Maybe he shouldn’t have stated that, because Maki might end up asking what the hell he’s talking about.. and it wouldn’t be a good idea to share what he and Kokichi know just yet. But instead her head shakes, most likely a nod, and she continues her walk down the stairs.

It seems their relationship has been damaged.. maybe she hates him because he’s staying with Kokichi for the time being. Maybe she picked up his lack of sadness, and is disgusted that he of all people wasn’t affected the way she was. He wouldn’t blame her..

“What’s Saihara-chan doing?” 

He spun around, slamming the door shut in the process. Kokichi stared it him, not bothering to hide the suspicion seeping into his expression. “What was that..” 

Shuichi puts up his hands defensively. “It wasn’t anything bad! Harukawa-san wanted to speak to me, that’s all!” He loosens up when Kokichi goes back to a smile.

Kokichi pats the empty spot next to him, welcoming the detective to sit beside him again. “The body discovery announcement still hasn’t played.. does that mean the mastermind hasn’t made a move?” 

That’s true.. he wasn’t woken up by anything, so it’s safe to say no announcement happened while they slept. “Do you still have the remote?” He asks while taking his seat. 

Kokichi nods, pulling out the remote from underneath the sheets. “Why do you think they haven’t saved Monokuma yet?” His questions always sound like he already knows the answer, so why is he even asking? There wouldn’t be an issue in humoring him he supposes. “Even if they can get him away from the Exisals.. they’d just chase after him. The sound of the Exisals chasing him and the mastermind away would alert everyone.. and once we make it to the scene to see what’s happening their identity would be exposed.” 

Kokichi held back a snicker. “Aw man.. I really wonder why they haven’t made a spare Monokuma yet..” Shuichi just rolls his eyes, continuing this little game of laying out Kokichi’s thoughts to him. “I’m not too sure why.. but maybe spares can’t be made unless the current one is destroyed? Or maybe someone’s watching the door the library again and they can’t enter the hidden room?”

He’s even more unamused when Kokichi starts clapping. “Wow! Saihara-chan figured that all out so quickly! He’s so smart..” 

“You already knew all of this, why did you ask me?” He asks. Kokichi’s grin switches into something small, genuine even. “Just wanted to make sure we’re on the same page.”

Understandable, but it really isn’t that enjoyable when Kokichi already knows the answer before him. It just steals the satisfaction of even discovering the mystery. In the end he’s somewhat happy though, the fact that Kokichi is even letting him in on the answers he’s reached now.. maybe it’s a sign their relationship deepened. Does Kokichi trust him? 

He glances at the leader, who’s deep in thought again. How did someone small like him carry insanely heavy thoughts that could make one spiral into despair with ease this whole time? Why does he keep everything to himself even when it leads to him breaking further down the line? Too many questions fill his mind like always when he’s around this boy. Last night he chipped a piece of Kokichi’s mask, through the hole dripped out pieces of the real Kokichi. Someone who’s so desperate to end this, one of the only people who was actually going to do something to achieve his goal. It’s a little admirable. Even if Maki and everyone else hate the two of them sticking together.. he can’t leave Kokichi now. He’d gain his trust.

He throws a hand over his nose after Kokichi flicked it out of nowhere. “W-What was that for!?”

Kokichi lowers his hand back down to his side. “You were staring at me. Listen, I know I’m such a breathtaking sight but that’s weird.”

_ That’s not the reason I.. I didn’t even know I was staring at you! _ No  reason to voice this.. they’d just go back and forth with a pointless, childish argument. Instead, he watches Kokichi slide off the bed and walk over to the pile of boxes sitting in the corner of the room. He began rummaging through the pile, tossing papers covered with doodles aside if they were not what he desired.

“Hey, Ouma-kun?” Shuichi says. Kokichi hums in acknowledgment. It’s not something he wants to ask, but an answer would help him decide what he should do in the future. “Do you still want to die?” 

Kokichi freezes in place. “What?” 

“Yesterday.. you asked me to kill you, remember?” The memory of Kokichi grasping his shirt and burying his head into his chest as the shaky words begging for death spilled from his mouth was still fresh. “It lead me to believe you wanted to die.. do you still feel that way?” 

Kokichi taps his foot, slowly going back to what he was doing, as if Shuichi never spoke. “Maybe. Maybe not. Lets just end this and get out of here first, okay?” 

It’s like that request was supposed to lead him to nothing, but everything Kokichi says always leads you to something. “Okay.” He says. Save dwelling on it for later. Get out of here first, and then he’d get an answer.

He can’t see it, but Kokichi’s lips twitch into a genuine smile before he plasters on his shit-eating grin after pulling out a few empty notebooks from the boxes. He raises an eyebrow when Kokichi snatches a few pens and tosses the notebooks in front of him. “What are you doing now?”

Kokichi tapped his chin with a pen. “We’ve gotta come up with some plans for this trial. I don’t think it’s gonna be as easy as we think. Monokuma doesn’t want this game to end, us calling out his cheating might not be enough. So let’s start coming up with back up plans!” 

Kokichi shoves another pen into Shuichi’s hands. He chuckles softly in return. “Are you always thinking up plans?” 

“Yeah, that’s what evil leaders like me have to do. If I’m not thinking.. the world will be destroyed for real this time.” Kokichi claims. A joke that would be a bit funny to anyone else, makes Shuichi’s jaw drop. Of course he’d joke about that, maybe this is how he copes..

For a few hours they wrote down ideas that would shut Monokuma down.

“Maybe we can try my unsolvable murder plan again~”

“Don’t even think about it.”

And ones that would corner the mastermind and reveal their identity to everyone. 

“That’s how shows like these work, right? Unmasking the evil villain and achieving victory! The audience wouldn’t want to drag out a villain once they’re revealed.”

“..What an odd way to think about that.”

The morning announcement plays, and Shuichi suggests they get something to eat this time.

“I don’t wanna. What if everyone’s there again?” Kokichi asks with a pout.

“..Don’t you love when everyone’s around so you can mess with them? Especially Kiibo-kun..” Shuichi asks. Kokichi stared at him blankly before lowering his head back down to his notebook. “Things are different now.” 

Oh, that’s right.. because of Gonta and Miu. Because of Kaito.. because everyone still believes Kokichi is a Remnant of Despair. He believed it himself at first, using Kokichi’s lie of being the mastermind as the ‘definite’ proof. He’s not the mastermind, so where does this lead him? Someone who lives off despair wouldn’t.. be doing all of this to end something Junko Enoshima created. Maybe with this, he could get the others to trust Kokichi for now. 

He slips on his shoes and makes his way to the door, grinning a little when he feels Kokichi’s gaze burning into him. “Saihara-chan, you can’t just leave me behind! I remember you being so desperate for me to come with you yesterday!” 

Shuichi hums. “Actually, I wasn’t desperate at all. If you don’t wanna come then that’s fine with me.” He cracks the door open, eyeing Kokichi briefly and smiling when he sees him slipping on his own shoes in a hurry. 

“You’re cruel and evil, I hope you know that.” Kokichi says as he walks past him out the door. Shuichi continues smiling. “Aren’t you the one who always claims to be an evil leader?”

* * *

They enter the dining hall. The only one there is Kiibo, but it seems like he didn’t notice them enter. He stares off into space even when Kokichi starts waving a hand in front of him.

“..Is he dead?” Kokichi asks after taking a few steps back. 

“N-No.. That can’t be, nobody had a motive to kill, and-“ Kokichi places a finger over his mouth. “Shh.. I didn’t mean it like that. I mean dead as in like.. did he forget to charge himself?” 

_ Then just say that!  _ He sighs one more time before Kokichi drags him into the kitchen. Before they enter he glances at the spot Kaito’s body used to lay, a small shudder crawling down his spine. When they make it back out with meals for the both of them, Kiibo is still unmoving. It’s a little concerning.. should they plug him into something? How do robots even charge?

Then Kiibo blinks, lifting his head to stare at the two of them. “Ah, good morning Saihara-kun, Ouma-kun!” 

Kokichi tilts his head to the side, narrowing his eyes at the robot. “..What the hell was that?” 

“Ah- Sorry.. I was just thinking deeply about what I can do.. what I should do.” Kiibo informs with a sheepish smile. 

“What you should do?” Shuichi asks while pushing his plate aside, suddenly intrigued by what had tore Kiibo away from reality like that.

“..Everyone split up again, which means the mastermind can take this chance to make their move. I do think it would be better for us to stay in one place, even if some of us have rocky relationships with each other.” The glance Kiibo gives Kokichi doesn’t go unnoticed. “But if we can’t come together, then I’ve decided to keep watch on Monokuma!”

The proudness of his statement was apparent, but the silence from the two made him slump back down. “W-Was this not a good idea?”

“Yeah, you’re useless like always! The Exisals are already guarding him, we don’t need a waste of space like you!” Every word Kokichi spat out were like bullets piercing through him, causing Kiibo to sigh in defeat. 

Shuichi smiled nervously. “Ouma-kun.. that was uncalled for. That actually sounds like a good idea, yes the Exisals are watching Monokuma.. but not their surroundings. Is that what you meant Kiibo-kun?”

The praise fills Kiibo with energy again and he nods. “Yes! I can watch the area during night since that’s when they have a chance to strike! If they try coming for him, I’ll find out their identity!” 

This was actually a great idea, with Kiibo around they can have more time to plan before the mastermind gets desperate. He tells Kiibo the idea is wonderful once more to bring up his spirits, before Kokichi causes his attempts to come crashing down after flinging insults at the robot again. Kiibo ends up leaving, his mood raised and yet lowered. 

“Why do you do that?” He asks, continuing his meal. Kokichi just smiled at him, cunning as always.

* * *

They made a lot of progress with the time they used up today. Molding the factors of the audience’s existence and the mastermind’s identity to bring a solid idea from both of them. If the mastermind cheated, then they’d unmask them and expose the truth that was hidden from them all to the audience. Once they found out the rules they love so much we’re broken, it’d cause chaos. They value the fairness of this game.. so exposing the unfairness of it all would cause everything to break.

Kokichi hasn’t told Shuichi what he felt was off about Rantaro’s trial, because he’s not certain if his theory is right. Rantaro wasn’t murdered by Kaede, with the lack of evidence Shuichi would think he’s pulling out a shitty joke. So an investigation to find even a small bit of evidence that could be hidden from them all would need to start soon. He’d get Shuichi’s help to gather everyone around and start this final investigation. 

As Shuichi sleeps, he goes on a walk to catch a break since the detective says he needed one for some reason? And on his walk he spots Maki sitting on a bench with someone, a corpse. Kaito’s corpse.

“..Harukawa-chan?” He says quietly. Her frame becomes stiff before she cranes her head towards him. She looks.. distressed. The expression held many tears behind it, even if he can tell she had already been crying. Her eyes have no light, almost lifeless.. like she’s also a corpse alongside Kaito. A bit better than the threatening look she always has for him.

“..What are you doing out here?” She asks, her voice hoarse. 

He stares past her and at the body, suppressing a shudder. “I didn’t know you were weird enough to keep a corpse with you. Or could it be.. you’re so deprived of killing that you’re gonna use Momota-chan’s body as a punching bag you can stab whenever you’re angry?”

When she shifts around in her spot, he continues. “Are you mad you couldn’t end my life the other night? No need to lie, I know you are. Are you also mad that Momota-chan jumped in the way of the arrow that was supposed to kill me? Ahah.. I could go on.” 

But he doesn’t go on, Maki speeds towards him like a bullet and fingers wrap around his neck. Only this time she doesn’t apply pressure, instead her thumb brushes over the bruises from the previous times she nearly squeezed the life out of him. 

“Don’t.. include his name in the garbage that comes out your mouth.” She demands, pulling her hand away. He continued staring as she walked back to the bench Kaito is seated on. Instead of taking her seat, she turns around and stares back at him. “Answer my question, what are you doing here?” 

He taps his chin. “I was just going on a little walk, I didn’t expect to see all of this. Now answer my question! Why is he here?” 

Her head lifts to stare at the sky filled with stars. “..I didn’t know where to bring him. I didn’t want to shove him into a room, so this was the next best option. He can sit here and the stars will watch over him..” She sighs. “That’s something he’d say.” 

He nods, turning back to the dorms before she changes her mind and actually kills him this time. “Wait.” She says. He acts like she hadn’t spoken and kept walking. “What are you and Saihara planning?” 

He stops dead in his tracks, looking back at her with wide eyes. How does she know they’re planning something.. was she listening to them earlier? Was she watching them with cameras.. is she actually the mastermind? 

He takes a step back, she steps closer. More fear swirls within his mind, every step he takes back makes the assassin step towards him faster, her gaze sharpening into a murderous glare. His breathing quickens, he was going to die. The killing game would start again. He wouldn’t be able to save them. He wouldn’t be able to save Shuichi.

What would Shuichi say when he discovers the body of Kokichi inches away from Maki not long from now? How would he end this.. how could he let this happen? Getting too comfortable around the one who attempted to murder him many times before.. such a stupid decision. His eyes squeeze shut when Maki places a hand on his shoulder.

“..Calm down.” She whispers in an almost comforting tone. He cracks an eye open, examining her for any weapons, there’s nothing. He realizes how much of a mess he must look like right now with his chest heaving up and down rapidly, along with his watery eyes.

She takes a step back so he has a moment to calm himself. How strange.. was this the same Maki Harukawa that strangled him all those times letting him have a chance to regain is composure? What was she even asking before..? Right, what he and Shuichi were planning. 

“Why would you think me and Saihara-chan are planning something? He’s only my caretaker for the time being, nothing else.” He says. 

“Because he told me something earlier that made think you were planning something, and from the way you just reacted.. I believe I’m right.” She shoots back.

His eye twitched,  _ Dammit Saihara-chan!  _ “I don’t know.. maybe he lied to you so you could leave him alone?” There’s no way to shoo her away from the truth with lies as weak as this, in the end he’s just making himself more suspicious. 

Maki sighs, her eyes travel to the ground. “Whatever, I don’t care. As long as whatever you’re doing doesn’t get anyone killed you can do whatever you want.” 

“..Okay.” He mutters, more relived than he thought he’d be. They really don’t need anyone getting in the way of their work, so he’s glad she’s staying out of it. In the future though, he might need her to round everyone up for their investigation.

“I have a favor!” He states with a smile. Maki scoffs, uninterested in what he has to say. Just because she doesn’t care doesn’t mean she’s not listening. He turns back to the dorms, set on making it back this time. “In a few days.. get everyone together and let’s all meet up in the dining hall.” 

A few days would be fine right? They all need a chance to settle down from the events that feel like they all happened at once. Throwing everyone into another trial without a second to collect their thoughts would lead to them snapping under pressure, and create a messy trial. He couldn’t see if Maki’s expression changed into something of disgust or understanding, but he knows his request will be carried out. 

A reminder that Shuichi was sleeping had just buried it’s way into his brain the second he carelessly swung the door to his room open. Good thing he seems to be a heavy sleeper.. but at the same time he wishes he did interrupt his slumber. Payback, for sharing just a small bit of proof that the two of them were planning something. 

Shuichi kept leaving enough space for him to lay by him, how thoughtful? The second his face hits the bed he’s out, all complicated thoughts going on break for a short time, and no dreams pester him this time. The slumber he fell into was deep enough that he hadn’t heard the creaking of the door, or see the figure stepping in. 

* * *

The sounds of the Exisal’s colliding with the ground every time they circle around Monokuma was starting to irritate Kiibo. There’s no room for the feeling of annoyance though, he’s doing this for all his friends, and to push away this strange feeling of uselessness that’s been weighing him down.

Monokuma had been staring at him the entire time, and even with his unchanging expression, the violet anger brewing within the bear wasn’t unnoticeable. 

“How’s that Monokuma? I say your position is deserved after everything you and the mastermind have put us through!” Kiibo taunts with a proud smile, earning a grumble from Monokuma.

_ Free Monokuma. _

He goes stiff, was that his inner voice speaking? But why would it tell him that? Monokuma perked up, could he hear it too? 

_ Free Monokuma. _ It booms throughout his mind over and over. He always listens to the voice, as it guides him into the right direction. What would freeing Monokuma help the group accomplish? It’ll just start the killing game again. 

_ Free Monokuma. _ The desperate words begin to fell like they’re pulling at the wires of his metallic brain, tossing them around, ripping them and shoving that message into the holes to the point where oil begins to leak. He rubs a hand over his head, relived there’s not actually oil. 

His eyes flicker towards Monokuma, who stares at the robot with a grin that stretches wider than ever. 

_ Free Monokuma. Free Monokuma. Free Monokuma. _ He gasps sharply, hands grasping his head. “S-Stop it!” He cries out. It doesn’t stop, it’s get loud enough to the point where his cries become inaudible. 

His legs carry him unsteadily to the Exisals, his arm reaches in and latches onto Monokuma’s. Then the bear is pulled out, his inner voice goes back to sleep. The chance to celebrate the end of that never came to play, one of the Exisals arms swung around in attempt to reach for Monokuma. He backed away with the bear still in his hands that let out his signature laugh. 

“St-“ The Exisal slams into his head, tearing the antenna that sits on top of it off in the process. Kiibo goes limp, hands releasing Monokuma as his body collided with the ground. 

“Shit!” Monokuma curses under his breath when the Exisals spot and step closer to him. Then footsteps growing louder fill the air, and the Exisals are powered down. He spins around, grinning again at the sight of the mastermind, Tsumugi.

In her hand was the Exisal remote, she acquired it after sneaking into Kokichi’s room and digging through his stuff. Her face morphs into one with fake concern after she had spotted Kiibo sprawled out on the floor.

“Kiibo-kun! Are you-“ She stops herself, now taking in how he’s immobile. “Oh dear.. his antenna was knocked off. We’ll have to fix that later.” 

Monokuma steps towards her with a paw raised, claws sticking out from it. “You.. what took ya so long!? I can’t believe you just let Ouma-kun steal the game away from you like that you crazy bitch!”

She stifles a laugh. “It was careless of me, I know. He was supposed to be killed as well, but of course Saihara-kun had to get in the way.. but it’s fine, let out all your anger on Ouma-kun for me tomorrow! He and Saihara-kun have been planning something.. let’s cut it short, shall we?” 

Chewing Kokichi out was something Monokuma had desired ever since he lied about making the game more interesting with that card key motive. Tsumugi led him out of the hangar, glancing at Kiibo one more time before finally letting a bit of quiet laughter spill.

The immobile Kiibo’s mind sparks an idea in his brain, bringing the life back into him. He sits up, staring at his fingers that curl and uncurl, thinking of which weapon from his lab to place onto them as a thought repeats in his head, louder than his inner voice that can’t be heard anymore ever was.

_ Destroy the Ultimate Academy. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me, two days ago: so sorry everyone ,, this story won’t be continued 
> 
> and then that becomes false, i come up with another chapter ,,
> 
> so yeah , this story will be continued, i ended up thinking up a rough idea of how the rest of this will play out hours after the previous chapter was uploaded. i was gonna wait until it was all written out to start uploading, but i like how this chapter turned out and wanted it up asap
> 
> sorry for being confusing with this aha ,,


	4. Chapter 4

The chime of the morning announcement blared throughout the room. 

“Shut up..!” Kokichi hissed, throwing his hands over his ears in attempt to drown out the noise. It’s louder, more annoying than usual.. almost like a punishment. Shuichi sat up groggily, eyes widening after spotting what’s on screen. “O-Ouma-kun..” He taps Kokichi’s shoulder frantically.

The song comes to an end, and he looks to where Shuichi looks. The expression on the detective’s face was fitting for the sight of Monokuma now seated in his chair. 

“Everyone wake up and meet in the dining hall, now! I’ve got a few things to say to you bastards.” Monokuma lets out his signature laugh before the video shuts off and leaves them in silence.

“Fuck..” He chokes out. Even Kiibo’s attempt to catch the mastermind was a failure. “How the hell.. did they get him out?”

Shuichi lifts the pillow where the remote was hidden, and as expected, it was gone. “..Sorry. I’m sorry, I should’ve paid more attention. I-“ 

“It’s whatever.. let’s just see what the damn bear has to say.” He grins slightly, aware of how pissed Monokuma would be for the stunt he pulled. If only it was successful.. beating Monokuma at his own game beyond the grave. 

He and Shuichi exit the room the same time as the others, and it was awkward. Maki stared at him the second he was visible, her stony gaze reminding him of their interaction from last night. Tsumugi watches the two of them with worry but also a bit of interest. Himiko pulls the brim of her hat down to avoid watching if a fight broke out. Shuichi’s eyes travel to Kiibo’s door, since he was the only one not to leave yet. 

“..S-So, the mastermind made a move..” Tsumugi’s voice wobbled. Maki tears her gaze away from Kokichi and leads the group to the dining hall. Kokichi twirls a strand of hair on his finger in disinterest. “Pretty sure we already know that, you didn’t need to remind us.”

Tsumugi nodded hesitantly, realization that what she said was in fact stupid and obvious just setting in. 

“Shouldn’t we wait for Kiibo-kun..?” Shuichi seems more interested in the door to Kiibo’s room than looking where he’s going since Kokichi had to stop him from walking into the doors. 

“Nyeh.. robots wake up earlier than us, right? He’s probably already there.” Himiko suggests through a yawn.

If Kiibo was here right now he’d be taking the mage to court. For some reason, he can’t fight back the small amount of worry he has for Kiibo. Maybe it’s the fact that out of everyone, the one who watched over Monokuma was not with them. Something must’ve happened for the mastermind to be able to slip by and take Monokuma. He should’ve hid the remote somewhere more concealed, or he should’ve worked on a way to get out the school from the start, before Rantaro’s murder had even took place instead. Now he could be penalized for usurping the masterminds role, or delaying the class trial, or-

Maki let out a tired sigh. “Do you think it’s gonna continue?” Her question is directed at Shuichi. 

“..I don’t know anymore.” Shuichi responds, voice trailing off near the end. The same could be said for Kokichi, no matter what he or anyone else has done to end this game, it always continues. The killing game is eternal, no amount of strategizing would change that. It all feels pointless, the work they put into their shitty plan. 

Shuichi holds the door to the dining hall open for the rest of them. What if this meeting is just luring them in to be killed for his poor choices? 

The five of them gather around the table where Monokuma stands. He shoots them all a glare before the meeting starts up. “I know you all missed your dearest headmaster. It’s okay you don’t have to say so, I already know!”

They all exchange looks of irritation. Maki takes a step forward. “Who let you out?” 

Monokuma laughs at her, shrill as ever. “I can’t tell you that! It’d gave away classified information, but lets just say the hunk of junk that was watching me is out of commission.” 

“..Are you talking about Kiibo-kun..? What did you do to him!?” Shuichi shouted, fear for the state of the robot rising within him. Monokuma keeps laughing, as if their concerns are the funniest thing in this fucked world. 

Then he leans forward, his red eye glowing. “So while I was gone you planned to hide the murder from me huh? Poor Momota-kun.. oh well, I already disposed of his body while you all slept your last peaceful rest!” 

Maki grits her teeth, holding herself back from slicing his head off. “What did you just say?” 

“I found his body sitting on a bench, how terrible! You couldn’t even bury the poor guy? Well that doesn’t matter, he’s just like the others who’ve died now. Gone without a trace, like their murders never happened.” The glower Monokuma received from Maki makes him take a few steps back to secure his safety. 

“Momota wasn’t murdered! You’re just trying to twist the truth so another class trial starts!” Himiko shouts, fighting back tears. “We won’t let you continue this!”

Monokuma places a paw to his face. “And how do I know you aren’t lying? I didn’t get to see how he died because  _ someone  _ trapped me with the Exisals!”

_ Ah.. ah. _ “F-Fuck.. Shut the hell up! You know we’re right you piece of shit!” He feels himself slowly unravel into a pile of messy emotions. It would start again because of him.

“How would I know? There could be many possibles for what the cause of death was! Like the poison arrows Harukawa-san had prepared when she stole one of the Exisals! Yep, I saw those!”

Maki’s face paled, she begins to tremble from what might be fear and anger mixed together. 

Monokuma clasps his paws together. “Maybe the bloodthirsty assassin is the culprit! Or maybe it’s Ouma-kun.. the one who trapped Momota-kun in the hangar while he was dying from his illness! He could’ve put him out of his misery..”

His nails dig into his palms when Monokuma lets out a different laugh, one that makes your skin crawl. “That’s what I mean! We have to hold this trial to figure out the truth y’know. But since you all seem so shaken up by the space idiot’s death, I’ll wait a day.” 

“You don’t get to do that..” Maki slides a knife out from her pants pocket. “You don’t get to use Momota’s death to continue this! You don’t get to claim you feel sad for him and then mock him!” 

“Harukawa-san!” Shuichi reaches for her arm to pull her back. She spins around, wagging the knife at him. “Stop it! Why do you always do this!? I’m gonna kill him, and this game won’t go on anymore! Just let me do this, I can’t stand around and let him taunt us any longer..!” 

The knife inches closer to his neck, but he refuses backing down. “It won’t end like this. A spare will be made, and all that’ll happen is you getting punished!” 

“So what!? I don’t care if I get punished, even if I can buy just a bit of time for you.. for you to finish whatever you’ve been planning. It’s to end this and get us out of here right?” She pulls the knife away, swinging it around to point at Monokuma. “Then you have to get out of here. A sacrifice-“

The anger that flashed in Shuichi’s eyes had taken everyone aback. Shuichi was able to latch onto her arm this time. “No.. NO! Stop it.. stop it, no more goddamn sacrifices! I CAN’T LOSE ANYMORE PEOPLE I CARE ABOUT!”

Dead silence. Maki stared up at Shuichi incredulously, her lip quivering and the sound of her knife clattering with the ground. All Shuichi could do was frown after wrapping his arms around her as sobs racked her body. 

“Wow..” Monokuma scratched the back of his head. “So I was right about you all being shaken up, but I didn’t think you were this bad!” 

“Be quiet! Just go away already, you told us what you wanted so get out of here!” Himiko puffed out her cheeks in annoyance.

“Whatever! Just remember, the class trial starts tomorrow morning! Blame Ouma-kun for that one.” Monokuma reminds them all darkly before popping out of the room, to wherever he resides.

Tsumugi shot Kokichi a look of disgust. “I hate to say this but.. Monokuma is right. If Ouma-kun didn’t play around like that when pretending to be the mastermind we wouldn’t have had to do this anymore! And Kiibo-kun.. what if he was hurt by the Exisals that guy was controlling!?”

Himiko furrowed her eyebrows. “W-Wait! We can’t just blame everything on Ouma! He’s a really mean guy.. and he did cause a lot of trouble.. but-“

Tsumugi cuts her off, the hostility in her voice audible. “No! It’s because we just treat him like he’s a harmless guy that he does whatever he wants! It all started when he kidnapped us and forced us into the Insect Meet and Greet! And since we just ignored how dangerous he was.. after that he used poor Gonta-kun and made him a murderer!” 

“S-Shirogane-san!” Shuichi separates from Maki and takes a few shaky steps towards Tsumugi. “What are you doing..?” 

Her arms cross while her eyes begin to water. “..Why do you trust him, Saihara-kun? It’s seems like you care more about a Remnant of Despair than the friends you can actually trust.”

What does she have against him? Such a plain, uninteresting person holding that much hatred for him.. why? And why did her words actually get to him?  _ Just bounce back like you always do.  _

But he cant, even when he opens his mouth to fling her horrifyingly true words right back her, he can’t. Everyone’s eyes are locked onto him, growing bigger as he grows smaller. And Shuichi’s saying something, but he can’t hear a thing since Tsumugi’s words were so loud, ringing in his brain. So he runs, like he runs from everything. He runs because he’s reached his breaking point, and help is not an option anymore. Having someone to turn to is not an option for the guy who put them all through hell, and used ending the killing game as an excuse. So he keeps running until he collapses somewhere. His body is heavy like lead, weighing him down onto the ground. It would continue because of him. His attempts to end it would continue it, hilarious. So fucking hilarious..

* * *

Seconds after Kokichi had bolted out of the dining hall, Shuichi broke into a run after him. Kokichi was too quick, already nowhere to be seen in such little time.

“Ouma-kun!” He shouts through cupped hands over his mouth. _Where could he have possibly gone.._

It seems it would take a while to track him down, so during his run that slows into a jog he revisits the events that just took place to actually process them. The killing game is continuing, they can’t do anything about it. Kiibo was missing, most likely sustained injuries over night from his watch. Their group was barely hanging by a thread, why was Tsumugi so angry with Kokichi? She’s practically shoving the lie of him being a Remnant of Despair down their throats. The others haven’t brought it up, only her. Like she’s trying to sever he and Kokichi’s trust for each other. He won’t let that happen.

But he failed, failed everyone, failed Kaito. It wasn’t supposed to go on, and Kaito is the highlight of the trial. It just makes him realize how disgusting this all truly is, using their friends deaths to spark up a trial and get utilized as entertainment, to satisfy the viewers on the outside. He almost doesn’t want to go to the outside world anymore with the knowledge that people thrive off their suffering out there. Its a better option than staying trapped here though. The longer you stay, the more people die. 

Should he give up? Or should he keep going? For everyone who’s died he has to continue fighting for them, but he’s just so tired. Maki is tired. Himiko is tired. Tsumugi is tired. Kiibo.. is nowhere to be found, and his mind can’t break off from the thought of him being dead. Kokichi is tired. All of them shift back and forth from hope and despair, because it’s impossible to rely on hope in a place like this. Despair is the only option. 

His legs shift to the direction of his bedroom, so he can hole himself up in there until the trial starts. But then he stops himself, pinching his cheeks to snap himself out of this trance. His search for the leader continues. “Dammit! Ouma-kun, where are you!?”

* * *

No luck, after hours of searching still no luck. Shuichi combs his fingers through his hair, letting his thoughts start up again.  _ Maybe.. I thought about this in the wrong way? _

If Kokichi was going to hide, he’d usually mix it up right? The last time he went into hiding it was actually impossible to find him. But this time there’d be no effort into hiding! Right? Maybe..

The sun is setting.. he’s physically tired now. Wanting to get this over with already, he cups his hands over his mouth again and shouts as loudly as possible. “OUMA-KUN!?”

Still no response, making him feel a bit inane for shouting like that now. With a groan, he starts running again. He nearly trips over something, but his running stays sturdy enough.  _ Wait. _

He whips his head to the grass, and there he is.. the one he’s spent hours looking for. 

“..Saihara-chan is way too loud this late in the evening.” Kokichi teases flatly. He’s sprawled out in the grass, his hands tearing out little pieces and sprinkling them back down. His eyes refuse to meet Shuichi’s, instead they bore into the sky. 

Shuichi kneeled down beside him, holding a hand out to pull him up. Kokichi doesn’t take it, instead rolling onto his side.  _ So.. he’s going to be difficult. _

He plops down beside him, looking up at the sky that slowly starts to get littered with stars. It’s understandable why Kaito loved them so much, they bring you into a strange sense of calmness when you count them. Even when you lose track, the beauty of them fights away your disappointment.

“..I’m sorry Shirogane-san said all that stuff to you earlier..” He whispers.

Kokichi traces a bunch of abnormal shapes on the grass. “It’s not like she was wrong. You all let your guard down, maybe their deaths could’ve been avoided if you contained me.”

His fists clench. “..Are you alright?” 

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Kokichi’s voice dropped down to a whisper. 

“You don’t seem like yourself.” He responds, eyes turning away from the sky and onto Kokichi.

Kokichi sat upright abruptly, eyeing Shuichi warily. “..Dont seem like myself?” He repeats slowly. “Do you even know me?” 

His mouth presses into a thin line, a wonderful question not even he has a perfect answer for. “No, I definitely don’t. Sorry.. I should’ve thought about that.” Once more, he holds out a hand to him. “But I’d like to, once the killing game ends and we escape this place.” 

It’s ignored. Instead Kokichi stood up and brushed the grass off his shirt. “Thats not happening anymore.”

His stomach dropped. “What..?” No, no, no.. it had to happen. They can’t give up now, not after everything.. not after they were so certain their plans would end this all. 

“We can’t do it.. it never ends. Monokuma does whatever he wants, he twists the rules.. he twists the truth. Hell, even if we rightfully get the chance to escape he’ll twist that too!” Kokichi leans forward, pinning his fatigued gaze on the detective. “We were placed here to die, that’s all that’s left for us.. from the start our fates were sealed. We’ve been clinging onto dreams of us surviving and getting out of here, but it’s all a  _lie_. ”

“Ouma-kun..” No, it’s not the time to backpedal. He finds himself standing as well, staring down at Kokichi. Once lost now determined eyes stare into once determined now lost eyes. 

“You’re wrong.” 

Kokichi cocked his head to the side. “I’m wrong? Please, I’m _so_ interested in what you’ve come up with this time.” His words dripped with sarcasm. 

Shuichi wouldn’t back down, never again. “Don’t you see.. the whole reason Monokuma is making us do this trial is because he’s desperate. He’s doing whatever it takes to keep the game running, and you know why he’s desperate right?”

Kokichi stayed silent, but something in his expression shifted.. he was intrigued. 

“Because I think he knows about our plan. On the surface that seems like a bad thing, but in actuality it must be affective.. his desperation stems from this. So we have to go forward with this, it’s gonna work. Monokuma says the trial is for Momota-kun..” His lips twitch into a grin. “But Monokuma was oblivious to the truth, so how about we be oblivious in return? Completely shift the trial into what we planned?” 

The satisfying feeling he gets when Kokichi’s eyebrows raise is enjoyable. 

“I..” Kokichi shuts his mouth, looking for the right words. Then he smiles at him, a small tint of pink visible on his cheeks. “You really never fail to surprise me.”

That’s a good thing right? Surprising him. He nods, finally releasing a shaky breath. He reaches a hand out, placing it onto the back of Kokichi’s head, and pulling it to his chest. Kokichi gasps softly, his eyes flickering up to Shuichi’s.

He doesn’t look, it’s already embarrassing hugging him out of nowhere.. those violet eyes staring at him with curiosity would make him pull away too soon. This hug.. they both need it, Kokichi needs some kind of comfort already. And he’s been needing someone by his side as he places his chin on his hair and letting the dam holding in tears break. They’re tears for Kaito. For Kaede. For Kokichi. For everyone who still lives, and for those who have died. 

Kokichi is still as Shuichi cries his eyes out. His fingers slowly crawl up his back and grip the shirt. “W-Why..?” He wheezed out.

Shuichi sniffled. “I.. I don’t know. I just thought you needed a hug.. sorry, for crying..”

“You..” He bites his lip. “You’re an idiot, don’t apologize.” Then laughs, one emitting enervation. “Looks like someone has been bottling up his emotions for too long..” 

Shuichi’s eyes roll in amusement. “You’re one to talk.” 

They’re stuck in the hug for a minute or two longer before they pull apart. Shuichi wipes the tears away, sparing a glance at Kokichi who still seems just a bit off. “Is something still bothering you?” 

Kokichi laughs halfheartedly. “Eh.. I still don’t understand why you’re so.. kind to me, even when I killed..” He cuts himself off.

Shuichi’s gaze hardens. “..How about you stop saying you killed them. I think it’s a bit disrespectful, at this point you’re just using their deaths to add onto this.. evil act you have going on.” 

Kokichi nodded slowly in agreement. He places both hands onto the smaller’s shoulders. “..They didn’t die for that. Instead of only using their names in negative statements.. I want you to live for them, honor their memories. I believe they cared for you just as much as you care about them, so keep living for them.” 

Kokichi places one of his hands on top of the detective’s, it’s warm.. like a blanket wrapping around his usually frigid hands. “..Saihara-chan is bolder than usual.” 

Instantly, he tears his hands away. “I- Huh? What? I wasn’t doing anything bold-“ He sputtered, earning cheeky laughter from the other. He then smiled,  It’s all okay now. Tomorrow, they’d end this killing game. He’d step out this school alongside his friends, alive. Nothing would change his mind. 

“There you two are.” 

They both turn their attention ahead to Maki. She breaks into a jog, dressed in her uniform as well?

“You were looking for us..?” Kokichi asked.

She nods, raising an eyebrow briefly at Kokichi. “You did tell me to gather everyone in one place, right? A few days from now yes.. but since the trial is tomorrow I think now would be better.” 

Shuichi watched the two of them, dumbfounded.  _ Did they plan something behind my back!? _ He feels himself pout, of course he wouldn’t be in on some things. But watching them interact peacefully for the first time ever since Kokichi revealed her talent without hesitation.. it’s comforting seeing them push their differences aside for this. 

Maki looks them up and down. “Do you two wanna get ready first?” 

He nearly forgot they were still in comfort clothes, and nods sheepishly to her suggestion. She informed them of where the others were gathered, sprinting away when they give her a nod. 

They made it back to their rooms right away so they didn’t make the others wait too long. Being late to the party may be more of Kokichi’s taste, but not really his. After a quick shower he wasn’t aware he needed to settle his thoughts, he throws on his uniform and runs up to Kokichi’s room. 

“W-Wait you can’t come in, I’m naked! I always knew Saihara-chan was a creep!” Kokichi cried out after the knob turned slightly. He could feel the heat rising to his face as he backed away from the door. “Ah- Sorry! I’m not a creep I swear!” 

His expression drops when snickering is audible. “Silly detective, I was lying!” 

With a sigh, not filled with much exasperation this time, he pushes the door open. Kokcihi’s tying his signature scarf around his neck, playful smile adorning his lips. After going over the basics of the plan and fixing the liabilities, they’re ready. Kokichi taps his arm, shouting  _ you’re it!  _ Before skipping out the room.

“We don’t have time for games!” He states, even though he ends up chasing after him anyway. Everyone else is gathered near the benches where he and Kaito used to work out, and they ended up making it there faster than he thought with this game of tag. He taps Kokichi’s shoulder, smiling as the other pouted. 

“So why are we meeting here?” He asks. Maki stared at him and then Kokichi. “He doesn’t know?”

Kokichi nodded rapidly. “I haven’t told anyone about this, but the reason we’re all gathered is to start an investigation!” 

The group stared at him blankly. Himiko broke the silence with a shout. “What!? Are you actually excited for Momota’s trial!?” 

“You didn’t let me elaborate. It’s not an investigation for Momota-chan, it’s one for Amami-chan’s case. I think Monokuma broke the rules or something.. so we need to do this investigation to find things hidden from us!”

Shuichi placed a hand to his chin. “Oh yeah.. you never told me what you found off about his case, what was it?” 

He shook his head apologetically. “Sorry, can’t tell you until I have enough evidence.” Other than that everyone seemed to be on board, well except for Tsumugi. The entire time Maki saw how she glared at Kokichi, so she grabs Kokichi by his scarf and drags him to her. 

“You two, make up. You don’t have to be friends, but we’re not going to be fighting like this for now. Ending this is more important the grudges you have to hold.” She shoots them both piercing glares before stepping away. 

Tsumugi drummed her fingers on her arm nervously. “U-Uhm.. s-sorry for yelling at you earlier like that..?”

He almost scoffs. “Wow! You were right with what you said so I didn’t mind, but this half-assed apology is what actually makes me angry!” 

She whimpered, prompting Maki to shoot him another glare that feels like it steals years off your lifespan. He’d be dead soon if he kept playing around, so he huffs. “Alright alright.. it’s fine? I mean I didn’t really need an apology, just as long as you don’t screw this all up I’ll gladly work with you.” 

She nods, smiling brightly at him. 

Shuichi nudged Maki’s shoulder. “Where’s Kiibo-kun?” 

Maki played around with her hair in embarrassment. “..I couldn’t find him. What do you think happened to him?” 

As if on queue, the ground underneath them began to rumble. 

Himiko latched onto Maki’s arm to keep herself from toppling over. “W-What’s happening!?” Shuichi’s eyes darted around for the source, catching Kokichi stare up at the sky with narrowed eyes.

“Ah!” The source is Kiibo zipping around the sky, firing blasts at the school from a weapon connected to his arm. His blue eyes glowing brighter than ever as he shoots more blasts aimlessly.

“Kiibo-kun!” He shouts, the robot doesn’t acknowledge him. Everyone else starts shouting for him, and that ends up being enough for Kiibo’s eyes to flicker over to them. His attacks come to a close briefly as he flies down to them.

“What are you doing!?” Tsumugi cries. 

“Destroying the Ultimate Academy and ending the killing game, what else would I be doing?” His voice is more chilling than it’s ever been. 

“You do know your attacks could hit us, right? And how does destroying the academy end the killing game?” Maki questions.

Kiibo turns his back to them, more fixated on the crumbling academy. “The academy was created for it, every single killing always stems from a factor of this place. So if I destroy it, then it’s finally over.” 

“..Did you get those items from your lab? I thought you had no intention of using anything from there..” Shuichi states, and Himiko backs him up. “Y-Yeah! You said you didn’t like looking sci-fi!” 

Kiibo chuckled softly, the tone of it filled with what might be sadness. “That is true, I wanted to be treated as a human just like all of you. I no longer have the option to cling onto that childish dream, my purpose now is to end the killing game.” 

“But it’s just like Harukawa-chan said.. your recklessness is going to affect us as well, maybe even kill us.” Kokichi added, scowling.

Kiibo stared at him vacantly for a split second before getting his weapon ready for a few final blows. “If my actions result in your deaths.. so be it. If the only thing here for us is despair, I will destroy it all. This killing game never ends.. I hope you are aware of that. Nothing remains here for us, nothing remains outside for us, maybe in the end it’d be better for us all to die.”

_What is this.. why did he just switch up out of nowhere?_ “What the hell did Monokuma do to you!?” Shuichi shouts, earning a confused look from Kiibo.

Maki crossed her arms. “Is this what your inner voice is telling you?”

“..I cannot hear my inner voice anymore, this decision is my own will. That voice never directed me to something as drastic as this, but maybe it going to rest was for the best. I can bring this all to and end.” Kiibo raises a fist to his chest. “I won’t allow us to fall into despair, because we are students of Hope’s Peak Academy!” 

“There might still be hope.. a place to call home!” Shuichi argued. 

“And what are you basing that claim on?” Kiibo asks, his expression still unchanging from a blank look.

“Nothing! It’s just.. a feeling.” He says, ending it off with a sad smile.

Maki chuckled. “A feeling huh? You really sound like that idiot right now..” Everyone else smiled with them, even Kokichi was grinning just a bit. 

“Also.. a bit of a theory Ouma-kun and I have been thinking of.. how Monokuma values the rules so much.. and how killing games serve the purpose of being watched. If there was really no one left, if the world was really destroyed.. what would be the point of all this? There’s still a possibility someone’s out there.” 

Kiibo lets himself ponder these words, and he hopes it’s just enough to get through to him. “That is true.. we cannot say there is absolutely no possibility. But even a mere possibility-“

Shuichi steps forward, pointing directly at Kiibo. “That possibility is our hope! There are so many mysteries left in this school, so we can’t give up just yet! We have to reach the truth!” 

The shock on Kiibo’s face shifts into one of his old smiles. “Spoken like a true Ultimate Detective.” He contemplates for a split second before sighing. “Very well then, I shall go along with your way of ending the killing game, but only until dawn. And if you cannot accomplish that, this academy will be destroyed.”

Until dawn.. how much time would Kokichi need for this investigation? What clues is he searching for? Being unaware of his theory is going to make this harder than it needs to be. He swallows nervously, nodding in agreement to this plan. He reaches to shake the hand of the robot, but the ground begins to rumble and he’s thrown off balance.

“Oh.. so you’re gonna try to end it huh?” Monokuma steps towards them, anger filling his expression once again. The Exisals follow behind him, and..

“Look at these silly bastards! Thinking they can end this shit!” One of the Exisals cackles. He inhales sharply, the Monokubs were back.

Kiibo steps in front of them, pointing the weapon at the Exisals. “Start your investigation, I’ll fight them off for you. Good luck Shuichi, everyone, I believe in you.” After that the war between Kiibo and the Monokubs begins. 

The group backs away to safety, panic arising in them all. 

“Until dawn..” Maki chewed on her thumbnail. Until dawn might actually be a good amount of time, since it’s not that late at night they have a good couple of hours to check every corner of this school. You can’t be too safe.. they’ll need evidence for Rantaro’s case, evidence to reveal to masterminds identity.. many many things. 

“Let’s split up, I think we can cover the entire area quicker that way.” Shuichi suggests. Surprisingly, everyone almost instantly agrees. Maki goes off on her own, saying she’d see them later with a smile. Himiko and Tsumugi leave together wishing him good luck.  So he’s left with Kokichi. Sure, Kokichi is freakishly smart and reliable. He’s also Kokichi, childish and always gets things off focus. 

“Come on Saihara-chan, let’s get this over with!” Kokichi sings, taking Shuichi’s hand in his own and they dart into the school. He supposes it won’t be that difficult, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here we go ,,
> 
> so the scene from the end was based off the beginning of ch6, but i changed a lot of it so i didn’t have to pull every single line from the original ,, it’d be annoying , and bland . i hope that’s alright , cause i’ll most likely end up doing this with the trial, since kokichi is being added to the mix. the important parts will stay though dw
> 
> next chapter is the investigation, looking forward to something specific ,,


	5. Chapter 5

They step into the school with caution, making sure to avoid the rubble scattered across the floor. Shuichi stops when Kokichi does, titling his head to the side with a look of puzzlement. 

Kokichi rocked back and forth on his heels. “So.. you wanna tell me when Hope’s Peak Academy is? Oh, also tell me what a Renmant of Despair is, hurry!” 

“You don’t know?” It just hits him that Kokichi had not seen the flashback light from the other day. “Well.. Hope’s Peak Academy was the school we all went to for our Ultimate talents after it was rebuilt. Remnants of Despair are Enoshima Junko’s underlings who caused atrocities after she died to continue spreading despair across the world. As the meteorites came crashing down, the Remnants believed we deserved to watch as the world crumbled..”

This information immediately didn’t sit right with Kokichi. “That doesn’t make sense. We believe the outside world is fine, so that debunks the meteorites being a thing. How could we have possibly gone to this Hope’s Peak Academy together if we all went to different high schools? And.. who the hell is Enoshima Junko?” 

He raised a hand to his chin. “But we weren’t from different high schools, the flashback light-“ 

“Did it not occur to you that the flashback light could’ve been fake? Would you really trust those things over what you did know before they started getting used on us?” Kokichi cuts him off. 

His eyes narrow. “How would that work..” The second he voices this question, he understands. Kokichi keeps quiet as he pieces everything together in his mind. 

The convenience of it all. The flashback light was planted on that table when the group had fallen into despair, and a light filling them with hope like that.. it’s too convenient. A light that handed Maki her motive to go after Kokichi that night is too convenient. A light claiming Kokichi was a Remnant of Despair while he pretended being the mastermind to secure the role in everyone else’s eyes is too convenient. 

“..You might be right.” He meets Kokichi’s eyes with a chuckle. “..Is this something else we should investigate?” 

Kokichi nodded in agreement, then the walls and floor began to shake. They took a few steps back, and thank goodness for that.. debris fell through the ceiling and smashed through the ground creating a giant hole that had stairs connected to it, leading somewhere underground. 

“Wow..” Kokichi drawled, skipping towards the newly formed hole. “Kiiboy must be having a blast fighting the damn Exisals.” 

“You think?” He walks to top of the stairs, asking himself if it’d be a good idea to see where they take him. Since these stairs were hidden, it could possibly lead to a hidden truth!

“Saihara-chan, we’re going to investigate this right?” Kokichi cranes his head up to the detective.

Hesitantly, he nods before placing a hand on the railing and stepping down them. Kokichi on the other hand, flies down them without a care in the world. At least they weren’t in bad condition, in fact they felt brand new.  The stairs lead them to a tunnel with debris in ever corner. After they cleared the path of it, they end up at a broken down vault door. 

“Is this a research lab?” Shuichi brushes his fingers against the designs etched into it. The only person here who hadn’t seen their lab yet was.. Kokichi. “It’s yours.” 

The statement makes Kokichi perk up. Both take a side of the door and pry with all their strength. They wince at the loud scraping noise it releases, but it doesn’t take long for the door to open.  Immediately after opening, Kokichi darts in without a word.  _ Is he excited to see this? _

The lab.. is a bit disappointing. It’s not that it isn’t well done.. it’s because it’s well done, perfect, cliche, that he’s disappointed. It’s a lab fitting for a supposedly evil organization, but it leans more towards a childish and predictable fantasy. It’s not fitting for someone unpredictable like Kokichi. 

“Saihara-chan! Look it’s so cool, right!?” Kokichi circles around the whole lab. He messes with the toy helicopter for a bit before hopping into the car, jokingly claiming he’d run Shuichi over with it. Then he drags Shuichi to in front of the throne, running up the stairs and taking his seat. Shuichi bows slightly to humor him. The entire time the sparkles in his eyes never die down, it’s the happiest he’s been since.. since before everything fell apart. 

Shuichi searches around the other areas of the lab, plucking a clown mask off a shelf with curiosity.  _ Why clown masks? _ From the corner of his eye he spots a book on the floor. “Huh?” He picks it up, eyes widening slightly at the title.

_ The Complete History of Hope’s Peak Academy. _

The cover is lifted and he flips through the pages, new found information sinking in and contradicting what he already knows. 

“What’s that?” He jolted when Kokichi is standing beside him, leaning his head in to read. 

“..The complete history of Hope’s Peak Academy. But the things written in this book are different from what I remember..” He flips through the pages, more information washing more and more waves of confusion over him. The final page comes to view, stating what’s in this book is the most accurate information to date.

“This doesn’t make sense..” He shuts the book, staring at the cover once more.  Were the flashback lights really fake like Kokichi said? 

Now he finally looks over to Kokichi. “Where should we go next?” 

“Let’s go to my room! I have a few things I want you to investigate.” Kokichi cheered, then skipped away from him and back to the entrance. 

“What? What do you want me to investigate?” He meets back up with Kokichi, glancing at the lab once more before they walk out and through the tunnel.  Kokichi stares ahead almost distantly. “It’s a surprise my dearest Saihara-chan, hand crafted just for you.” 

He follows him up the stairs with no more questions voiced.  _Is he messing with me again..?_ _He suggested this investigation.. but it already seems like we’re getting off track._ Even after coming to this conclusion, he’s just a bit curious.

”By the way.” Kokichi murmured. “I think that research lab was a horrible tribute to me!” 

* * *

The door swings open, lights flicking on after he and Kokichi step in. The place is a mess just like before, Kokichi definitely knows his way around better than him.. so why would it need to be investigated?

“Go all out! Oh, and if you’re still thinking the memories you obtained from the recent flashback light are real.. I have something that can change that.” Kokichi is seated on his bed with a sneer. What a prick, he wants Shuichi to find this thing he’s stuck up on even if he already knows about it. They’re wasting time.. but he finds himself digging through the piles of paper scattered across the floor anyways. 

“Can I have a hint at least?” He questions, examining the papers filled with doodles of strange weapons with interest.

“Envelope!” Kokichi shouts cheerfully.

That wasn’t much help.. but he’ll take what he can get. Just how much had he been collecting, from all of this to the items from previous crime scenes.. what were they for? How much had he been doing behind their backs?

“Ah!” He lifts up a small envelope, this must be it. Scribbled on the front were words that caused his breath to catch in his throat. 

_ This isn’t a will. _ Coming from Kokichi.. this must actually be a will. The will he planned on leaving behind if he died that night. An image of him stumbling into the hangar and discovering the press with blood oozing from the openings flashed through his mind. His stomach churned. 

“Oh, you found it!” Kokichi slid off his bed and crouched down beside him, elbows resting on his legs and hands cupping his cheeks. 

“T-This is what you wanted me to find..?” His words come out shaky, why would this will help with an investigation for Rantaro’s case?

“Mhm. I poured my heart and soul into this will.. just for you. Go on, lay your eyes on the heart-wrenching note manufactured by yours truly.” Kokichi whispers, waving a hand as a signal to open it.

With trembling hands he flips the envelope open, pulling out a small slip of paper. 

“..Twins b?” He read aloud, furrowing his eyebrows afterward. “That’s it?” 

Kokichi stifled his laughter. “So sorry! It was not actually a painfully long message.. but a hint to something.. something I don’t even know a thing about.” 

Shuichi nods, finally standing up again and ending his search through the papers. Why does he feel a bit.. disappointed it wasn’t actually a letter for him?

“Is Saihara-chan upset it wasn’t a love confession?” Kokichi teased. 

“..It would’ve been worse if it was something like that.” His eyes squeeze shut. “Because if you died, reading something that finally gives me answers about you.. and I wouldn’t even be able to confront you about it because..”

Kokichi’s smile drops. He quickly averted his gaze. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” He placed the paper back into the envelope. “S-So.. a clue for something you don’t even know about?” 

Kokichi nodded, thankful for the change of subject. “Yeah, that’s why I think we should investigate it. Maybe finding what it’s used for will lead us to a hidden truth. Also, I think the ‘horse a’ message from the courtyard has to do with this.” 

“Horse a?” He retraced his thoughts. “Oh! That’s what Gonta-kun first saw until you added onto it, right?” 

Kokichi nodded, a bit disappointed with how fast this all went. “Well.. that’s all I wanted you to find really. Let’s head somewhere else, you can pick this time!” 

Shuichi watches as Kokichi skips to the door, but there’s still one more thing to go over here. “Wait.” 

Kokichi stops, spinning around the face the detective again. “Hm?” 

“You said you had something that could change my mind about the memory i received being fake, what is it?” He reminded.

“Well.. since Saihara-chan wants to see it so bad..” Kokichi walks past him to the desk and begins rummaging through the drawers. It doesn’t take long for him to stop and pull out a Kubs Pad. “Tada!”

His eyes flicked back and forth from Kokichi’s innocent smile to the Kubs Pad that screamed danger. “Who’s is that..?”

Kokichi shoved the pad into his hands. “Turn it on and find out.” 

He proceeds to do as he’s told, and his greeted with the usual opening screen.. and two silhouettes of Kokichi in the background. “It’s-“ Kokichi shushes him before he can finish. 

The screen fades into an image of ten people dressed in uniforms similar to Kokichi’s, all adorning clown masks. Except for the smaller one in the front, who held it up to his face instead, Kokichi.  The small group goes by the name of DICE. Two main rules are instantly stated, do not kill, and commit amusing crimes. A group of pranksters who travel around the world causing ‘mayhem’ with their petty acts. To Kokichi, they were friends, family even.. the most important people in his life.

Then the screen fades into one where the group are bruised and bloody behind bars. Monokuma’s taunting voice informing them of this tragic event to happen to them.. but what? That would be for him to find out. The video shuts off, and they’re left in silence. 

Shuichi’s eyes travel to Kokichi’s face again, taking in the lack of emotion. It’s different than usual.. leaning towards one a bit more sorrowful.  Kokichi turns away, scoffing. “So, that’s it.” 

“What?” He places the pad gently on the desk, reaching a hand out to comfort the other. Kokichi backs away slightly, he lowers his hand back to his side.

A grin somehow finds its way to Kokichi’s face again. “Do you get it? The memory the mastermind gave you said I was a Remnant of Despair, the ones who most likely stole the lives innocent people for their beloved Enoshima.” 

He gets it. “And the video.. it goes against that because of your groups first rule.” 

Kokichi shoves the pad back into one of the drawers of the desk. “Yep, and I’d believe this motive video that came first over a flashback light that’s just a bit too suspicious.” 

Would that mean he believes neither of the things are truthful? What does this revelation mean for everything else? The other flashback lights.. were they also fake? If so, what’s the truth? Why were they actually imprisoned inside this academy?

The creaking of the door pulls him out of thoughts, giving him a chance to catch Kokichi standing in the doorway with his back faced to him. “So where are we headed next?”

He has an idea of where they should go, but he stares at Kokichi. Was that why he wanted that motive video viewing party back then? Because he wanted someone to console him.. “I’m sorry you had to witness your motive video alone. You’re organization..” 

_ You should join my organization! _ Kokichi would always use to say. What an honor.. him being invited to join such an important group. 

“They seemed like wonderful people.” 

Kokichi nodded, almost sheepishly, looking back at Shuichi this time. “It doesn’t matter anymore, I was sad about it and everything in the past. Let’s focus now!” 

He smiled briefly, following after Kokichi out the dorms. “You got us off track first y’know.” 

* * *

Rantaro’s lab is their next destination. The rule that it’s not allowed to be entered once the owner is dead made it impossible to reach.. but maybe with the help of Kiibo’s weapon they can get inside. Breaking the rules would be fine, Monokuma and the Monokubs are distracted, they could easily get away with this. 

“Kiibo-kun!” Shuichi calls out to the robot. Luckily, Kiibo notices him quicker this time, and flies down to he and Kokichi. “What’s the matter? Did you finish your investigation?”

It still threw him off how different Kiibo’s aura was. “No, but this is about the investigation. We need your help getting into Amami-kun’s lab, is that alright?” 

Kiibo glanced at the Exisals, who seemed to be in a pointless argument about who would get to dismember him. “Alright, I’ll meet you there.” Kiibo says, returning back to the skies. 

The duo ran back into the school, up the stairs and to the floor where Rantaro’s lab went unused. Shuichi set foot onto the floor the same time Kiibo blasted through the window, sliding across the ground in an impressive way. 

“That was one hell of an entrance.” He chuckled nervously. Kiibo himself smiled a bit before his eyes locked onto the blood red door. “Stand back.” 

He and Kokichi take a couple steps back, and Kiibo fires a blast at the door, knocking it off its hinges before it disintegrated. “Good luck.” Kiibo wishes before flying out the hole he brought into existence. 

“Did Kiibo just blow up that door..” 

They both turn their heads to the stairs, spotting a jogging Himiko whose energy was slowly depleting from just that. 

“Yumeno-san? What are you doing up here?” He questions. 

She places her hands on her hips to look more energetic and confident. “I saw you and Ouma running into the school. I thought something bad happened, so I followed to make sure you were alright.. but this was all? I used up a huge chunk of mana for this!” 

Shuichi smiled sheepishly. “Thank you for the worry, but we’re fine. Do you want to help us check out Amami-kun’s lab?” 

Himiko poked her cheek, looking deep in thought before beaming. “Of course! The Ultimate Mage is here to assist you! She may even use her magic to help!” She laughed almost boisterously, skipping into the room before them. 

“We didn’t need your help..” Kokichi muttered under his breath, earning a nudge from Shuichi. They step into the lab, and it’s more unsettling than they imagined. The walls an even darker shade than the door, picture frames hung from the ceiling, and several portraits of people with similar X’s painted sloppily onto them. The place itself had such a strange smell to it, one that stung his nose and made his eyes water. What the hell even was Rantaro’s talent for him to have a lab like this? 

“W-What is this..?” Himiko whispered, her frame beginning to tremble. 

“Saihara-chan.” Kokichi was pointing ahead. His eyes darted to where he pointed, jaw dropping at the sight of two vaults with B and A written in the middle, and 12 dials surrounding the outside on both.

“Is this.. Ouma-kun take the A vault, I’ll take B.” 

They separated to their designated vaults. Kokichi slid the dials to one of a horse, and Shuichi slid his dial to one of twins. The vaults opened slowly, releasing a bit of fog. Once it cleared they spotted nothing but a Monokuma themed USB stick.  Kokichi snatched it from the vaults before he had a chance to examine them. “Hey!” 

He ran after the snickering leader, who stared down at a laptop conveniently sitting on this table. The three of them stared warily at the USB stick before Kokichi plugged it in to the laptop. It pulled up a single video file. 

Whatever was on that file etched fear into his mind even without experiencing a second of it. His fingers shook as they hovered over the play button, but he gathered up enough courage to click it. The video opened up to Rantaro seated with his hands folded together. 

_ “Hey there, guess I don’t have to introduce myself, huh?” _

His finger slammed onto the pause button. “Amami-kun!?” 

Kokichi and Himiko were just as surprised as he was, definitely not what they were expecting. 

“..Did he film this before he died?” Himiko asked, pulling the brim of her hat down. 

Shuichi shook his head. “That’s not possible, it’s filmed in his lab that only opened up after Iruma-san’s case. He was already gone by then.. so there’s no chance that’s the case.” 

Kokichi tapped the play button without warning, filling the room with Rantaro’s soothing voice again. 

The video was filmed for Rantaro himself? The past Rantaro states he won the right of a special perk for participating in the killing game, part of it being this video. Then he brings out the other part of the perk, something he had from the beginning of the game.. something that could’ve been used to end the killing game, what was it?

The nonchalant expression Rantaro holds as he explains the cruel reality of this killing game is chilling, but it shifts into shock when he attempts to reveal something about the rule of there only being two survivors. The background goes red, and his eyes widened before his expression softened into a sly smile. These words aren’t meant for them, but he’s filled with just a bit of motivated after hearing him say he believes they can figure out yet another mystery added into their load. 

_ “..Oh, there is one.. more thing.”  _

They’re on the edge of their seats, hanging onto every word Rantaro says by a snapping thread. 

_ “Well, the truth is.. this isn’t your first killing game.”  _

Words of disbelief lay on the tip of his tongue, but he can’t speak just yet.. they need to hear everything. 

_ “You’re the Ultimate Survivor. You survived the last killing game. That’s why you get this perk, the survivor perk.”  _ His smile remains, but his gaze darkens.  _ “But it’s not all fun and games. Anyone who finds out who you are is gonna come for you. Watch your back, and trust no one. And never forget..”  _ He leans in, and Shuichi practically feels how limited the space between them would’ve been if he was still around.  _ “You wanted this killing game, so you gotta win no matter what. ..No matter what.” _

The video shuts off, and they’re left in the same silence that stuck around when he finished watching Kokichi’s motive video.

“He.. He wanted this?” Kokichi shoots up from his seat, his fingers digging into the table. “It’s his fault!?” 

“W-Wait just a-“ His attempts to calm him down are interrupted by Himiko. “Really!? That guy is the reason we’re stuck here and forced to kill each other!? He’s the reason we lost so many of our friends..” Tears spring to her eyes. “And then he just dies first and doesn’t have to go through it!?”

“LISTEN!” It was louder than intended, but his scream was able to get their attention back onto him. “Amami-kun.. remember he said in the beginning that he should’ve used his perk to end the killing game.. i-if he really wanted this why would he try to end it?”

They’re not fully persuaded, but give a nod anyway. 

“Okay..” He sighs. “Let’s.. discuss what we learned.” 

“What was the thing he had since the beginning?” Kokichi asks, voice regaining a bit of its usual playfulness. 

“I’m not sure, when we examined his body all he had in his pockets were his room key and his Monopad. There was nothing really special about the Monopad..” Shuichi stated. 

“Maybe he left it in his room?” Himiko suggested. 

He agreed, but Kokichi didn’t. He chewed on his thumbnail absentmindedly, zoning out and thinking back to the final picture of Rantaro when he was alive.. and how in his hand was a Monopad. He was the only one who noticed it at the time, and his attempt to share it with the group to get them on the right track was in vain with their obliviousness. Maybe that-

“Ouma-kun?” Shuichi shook him slightly.  Kokichi stared up at him, just now realizing they were exiting the lab. He’s thankful, the atmosphere of this place was really starting to creep him out. 

“Sorry I couldn’t help you much.. but I’ll do better! I’ll check Amami’s room to see if his special perk is there!” Himiko pumps her fists into the air before running off. He pities her and her sadness of not being able to be useful. It reminds him of how Gonta begged for something to make himself useful before his demise. Kokichi shuddered, following behind Shuichi silently. 

Rantaro’s video replays in his mind, especially the final statement. Did he or did he not want this? And if he did, why? After going through one killing game he actually wanted to go through another? He wanted that? More unsuspecting students to suffer through another killing game.. how many of them had taken place then?

“Ouma-kun?” 

He’s pulled out his thoughts again by Shuichi’s voice. Tsumugi was standing in front of them with her hands clasped together in front of her skirt. 

“Huh..?” He says, taking in their surroundings and how they were somewhere completely different. 

“Are you alright..?” Shuichi asks, the worry that seeps into his voice never leaving.  He nodded, but that’s never convincing enough, so he plastered on his usual grin. “I may have zoned out for a bit.. what’s going on?” 

“Er..” Tsumugi flips her wary gaze back to Shuichi. “I was checking Momota-kun’s research lab, but one of Kiibo-kun’s attacks tore down a wall revealing a new room! I think you should investigate it with me!” 

“Does that mean we have to separate..?” Shuichi doesn’t sound pleased about this, and the truth is neither is he. The two of them sticking together seemed like the best decision, especially with the mastermind is roaming around.. what if they harm Shuichi when they’re alone with him? 

He examines Tsumugi, who shakes like a leaf. She.. she can’t hurt anyone, he bets if he blew at her she’d fall over and shatter into a billion pieces. Being separated would speed things up too.. so just for now he’d allow this.

Right before Shuichi opens his mouth to protest, Kokichi pats his arm. “Don’t worry Saihara-chan! Go help Shirogane-chan with whatever she needs you for, I’ll investigate some other things in the meantime kay?” 

Shuichi nodded slowly, most likely detecting the forcefulness of his statement. “I’ll see you in a bit.” 

Kokichi nodded, watching Tsumugi lead Shuichi to the lab without wasting a second of time. He drags himself down the stairs as his thoughts go back to Rantaro’s video. Maybe Shuichi was right.. he wouldn’t want a killing game just to end it. Unless that’s what it is, he wanted this killing game just to end it. In that case he’s a fucking idiot, why start it again when you could just let it stop back then? What if this was all out of his control? What the hell does any of this mean? All that video did was fry his brain, not answer any damn questions! 

He lifts his head, staring through the hole in the ceiling. Kiibo is flying over it, still firing never ending blasts from his weapon.  _ How much trouble are those stuffed bears giving you..? _

“Ouma?” 

His body stiffened. “Harukawa-chan.” 

“..What are you doing?” She asked.

“Waiting for more debris to fall in and crush me.” He jokes, now turning around to face her with a smile.  She rolled her eyes in return, holding an item she found up so he could see. “I found this in Iruma’s lab. What is it?” 

“Ah.. that’s the bugvac..” He stares at her, dumbfounded. “Why did you go to her lab?”

Maki lowers the bugvac back to her side. “We’re supposed to be checking everything we possibly can out right? So I thought about how Iruma made the Electrohammers and bombs.. and started thinking about if she made more. I was looking for cameras, maybe she could’ve made some to track down the mastermind with, but because she’s.. like  _ that, _she could’ve hidden footage from us unless we got on our knees and begged for it? But all that wasn’t stupid and gross in there was this.” Her thumb presses the on button, expecting something to get sucked in before shutting it back off. “What’s it for?” 

“You know the tiny bugs Gonta kept talking about?” He yawns into his hand. “Well I made the blueprints for it and asked Iruma-chan to make them. We tested it out on the dirt and stuff.. cause that’s where bugs are or whatever. Nothing ever showed up.. she was really pissed at how much time she wasted on that thing.” He laughed dryly at the memory. “You should’ve seen it.. I had never seen her that mad before.” 

Maki, not knowing how to respond to that, looks up to where he had stared previously. “You haven’t lied to me at all during this conversation.” 

“Eh, don’t feel like it right now. I could say the same about how you haven’t tried to kill me during this.” He states, attempting to get under her skin.

She fiddles with the bow tied to her uniform. “And I could say the same about not feeling like that right now?” Then her eyes slip shut. “Sorry.” 

He tilts his head to the side. “Hm?” 

“Don’t play dumb, you know what I-“ A sigh. “Sorry.. for strangling you all those times.”

This was certainly not what he expected tonight. There were way more things for her to apologize for, the same goes for him he assumes. It’s take what you can get in this world. “I’ll accept your apology if you successfully help me end this.” 

A smile tugs at her lips. “Okay.” That’s enough to satisfy him, nothing else needs to be said. He lifts his gaze back up to the night sky before he continues his search. Maki then takes a few steps towards.. whispering an idea to him.

* * *

A new room did in fact open up, one where people are placed into a cold sleep. 

“What’s something like this doing in Momota-kun’s lab?” Shuichi mutters to himself as he steps through the hole. Tsumugi  scanned the area. “I-It feels familiar.. Have we been here before?” She nearly trips on the rubble near the entrance. 

That could be the case, they could’ve all been in this room before.. but he can’t trust the flashback lights anymore. Whatever this place could be is irrelevant. 

Tsumugi sweat drops at his lack of response to her theories. “Hey.. I’ve been wondering.. do you think the mastermind is actually one of us?” 

He lifts the binder sitting on the table in front of them, flipping through the laminated pages slowly. “..I don’t want to think that, I’d like to believe it’s someone hidden in the academy but..” His eyes scan the page titled Gofer Project participants list. “It’s all I can believe at this point.”

“Ah.. I see.” Tsumugi looked away sadly. 

“Wait a second, look at this.” He hands the binder to Tsumugi, pointing at the two Akamatsu’s. “Kaede had a sister?”

Tsumugi squinted. “A younger twin sister it says.. that sounds awfully familiar.” 

_ Enoshima had a twin, _ he predicts she’d say. Tsumugi was really obsessed with the content of that flashback light, but he doesn’t think he could inform her it was all false without any proof. 

Her voice dropped down to a malicious whisper. “I’m kind of glad I was able to get you away from Ouma-kun..” 

“What?” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Are you still hung up on him being a Remnant of Despair?” 

“I mean.. it’s the truth isn’t it? Really.. you shouldn’t be so trusting, Saihara-kun.”

_ It’s not the truth, it’s a lie you’re being brainwashed by! _ “I.. I saw his motive video, it goes against him even being something like that. So maybe.. the flashback lights-“

Her expression morphs into a panicked one. “Are you trying to say they’re fake!? Are you serious.. even after everything he’s done to us, you’re trying to defend him by changing what we know!? You sound like.. Monokuma right now..”

_ What..? _

All he could do was glower at her. “Shirogane-san. I don’t know what you’re trying to do but..” He slams the binder shut, tossing it back onto the table and turned his back to the cosplayer. “I won’t let you get in our way.” 

She doesn’t stammer. She doesn’t cry and accuse him of anything. She just stands there, stiff as a board, lips pressed into a thin line. He storms out without another word. Tsumugi clicked her tongue, humming a strange tune as the school rumbled.

* * *

Shuichi takes a few moments to clear his mind of that irritating interaction before inviting her to join him on his trip to the library. If Kiibo could blast the door to a locked research lab opened without penalty right now, then maybe.. he could do the same for the hidden room behind the bookcase. When the enter the library, they’re greeted by Kokichi and Maki standing idly by the bookcase. 

“Eh?” He steps towards them, befuddled yet happy to see them again. 

“Saihara-chan! I missed you!” Kokichi sang. 

“I expected you’d come here sooner or later, and ran into Ouma at the time I was coming here so I invited him.” Maki says, placing the bugvac onto one of the shelves. His interest is immediately piqued. 

“Yeah.. I already asked Kiibo-kun to come and open the hidden door for us.” He slid the bookcase open, and the front door swung open seconds after. 

“There you guys are!” Himiko shouted through pants. 

Maki scanned the mage. “What have you been doing this entire time? Did you find anything?” 

Himiko pouted at her. “..No, sorry still couldn’t be useful.” 

Tsumugi pat her shoulder for comfort. “Don’t worry!” She locked eyes with Shuichi. “Hey, do you think the mastermind is in there?”

“I didn’t think about that at first but..” He raised a hand to his chin. “Possibly.”

Maki’s hands twitched by her sides and she scowled. “Then if we kill them it’ll end.”  Shuichi stepped in front of her cautiously. “No, killing them is just going to make as bad as-“ He’s cut off by Tsumugi’s screams.

An Exisal steps into the library slowly. “Found ya! You bastards have been doin whatever you want huh.. well no more, we won’t let you anger Father! Get over here you troublemakers!” It starts running towards them, then Kiibo flies in and lands a kick on it, lodging it into the other bookcases. 

The Exisal’s cries don’t bother Kiibo as he warns it to simmer down before shifting his body to the group. “You need me to open that door, right?”

Shuichi nodded, telling everyone to step back when Kiibo raises his arm and fires a blast at the door, successfully making a hole large enough to them to enter. He directs his attention back to the now rising and furious Exisal.

“So the mastermind could be in there..?” Kokichi muttered to himself.

Maki slid out another knife. “If they attack, we strike back.” She earns a few nods of agreement. 

“This is it..” Himiko prepared herself mentally for whatever waited for them. 

“Let’s go!” They all charge into the room with new found strength brewing within them. But it all comes to an end when they enter the room, no new person hidden it like they were expecting..

“It’s bigger than I expected..” He voiced.

Maki lowered her knife. “Where’s.. the mastermind?” 

Not here, bringing him back to the dreadful fact that the mastermind is most likely one of them.  Kokichi walks past him wordlessly, eyes locked on a red curtain covering something. He tears it off, revealing a giant disfigured Monokuma head. 

“Monokuma!?” He shouldn’t have been surprised something like this would be here.

“Puhuhu.. you found me! Took you long enough to get into this place! But don’t think you can end the killing game ya brats.” The Monokuma head says. 

“Shut up! We’re gonna end this, but who are you!?” Himiko shouts. 

“You all may think I’m just a simple Monokuma, but it’s much more than that.. I’m the source, the spare maker of Monokuma’s when they die. I’ve been given a special name because of my role.. Motherkuma!” 

This was so damn weird. “So you were the Monokuma machine we heard about that made spares in the beginning?” 

“Not Monokuma! Motherkuma!” The head reminds. 

“Eh, I think this hunk of junk is lying to us.” Kokichi stares at his nails with disinterest. Maki nodded in agreement. “Anyone can see that, it’s giving us answers too easily.”

“No way I’m lying! I can make spares super easily!” The head whined. 

“Okay then, do it.” He demands without a speck of friendliness in his voice.

“Y-Yeah! Go and make another Monokuma for us!” Tsumugi shouted.

Motherkuma doesn’t reply.

“What are you waiting for, give birth to a Monokuma.” Kokichi commanded.

Motherkuma doesn’t reply.

“Give birth to a Monokuma already!” Himiko shouted. 

Motherkuma doesn’t reply.

“Go on, give birth to a Monokuma.. we don’t have all night.” Maki said with a glare. And Shuichi ended it off when the head still had no response. “Are you even listening? We said give birth to a Monokuma!” 

“Shaddup! All of you! I’m not giving birth to a Monokuma for someone who doesn’t love me! You’re all a bunch of idiots! Teens these days.. you all wouldn’t even care for the Monokuma after it’s born!” 

Tsumugi sighed in defeat. “So it must’ve been lying..” 

Maki crossed her arms over her chest, shaking her head. “Well, no point in talking to this thing anymore. We should start investigating this room.” 

Maki took the job of checking every corner to see if the mastermind was hidden. He looked to where Kokichi stood, stiffer than ever. “Ouma-kun?”  Kokichi lifted a bloody Monopad off the table. “..Is this what Amami-chan had in that photo..?” 

Photo.. the one from the cameras he and Kaede set up? Looking back to it.. there was a Monopad that Rantaro was holding when he reached out to the camera. They assumed it was the one in his pocket, but this one with the blood dried on it.. and the shape of fingers outlined in the blood. 

Kokichi switched it on, and they’re greeted with the words ‘Survivor Perk’ floating in the middle. “This is it..” 

The contents of the pad were an entire map of this place.. even the hidden room, explaining why he also knew about the door. He tapped a speech bubble in the corner, and it directed them to a new screen titled ‘clue to end the killing game.’

“Huh..” Shuichi swiped up, taking them to another screen with a few sentences. They’re all things they’ve already theorized, but it’s good those theories are solidified now. The final sentence warning Rantaro to only share this video with those he can trust left a faint sadness in him. Rantaro had no one to trust. 

“This explains why he brought up the Ultimate Hunt back then..” Shuichi shuts off the video, looking back at Kokichi.

Kokichi’s eyebrows are furrowed. “..We need more evidence..” 

“More evidence for what?” Shuichi asks. 

“To prove that the thing I felt was off about this case is actually true.” 

They split up to search the room, and the trash can in the corner really stole Shuichi’s attention. It’s just a trash can.. but maybe there’s something. He flipped the lid open, reaching his hand all the way in until his fingers brush against something cold. He lifts it up with a bit of struggle, going stiff when he sees it.

A shot put ball.

“Ouma-kun! I found something.” 

Kokichi sprinted towards him, staring at the ball with as much incredulity as he had. His fingers plucked a strand of pink fabric from the surface. “This.. fuck.” 

He arched an eyebrow. “What?” 

“Akamatsu-chan’s sweater was pink, right..” Kokichi placed the strand back onto the ball. He nodded hesitantly. “Yeah..?” Realization. “Are you saying this is the ball Akamatsu-san had?” 

Kokichi nodded. “That could mean.. Amami-chan wasn’t murdered by her. She was framed.” 

Kaede.. was framed? That answers so many of his questions.. but he stared back at the ball with overwhelming hatred. Kaede never killed anyone, she was executed unfairly.. because the mastermind cheated. He wiped his eyes. 

They meet back up with the others silently, who all seemed just as displeased as them. “No luck..?” 

Maki shook her head with a scowl. This isn’t good, they’re running out of time.. they’ve gotten closer to the truth of the case, but not to the mastermind’s identity.

“Nyeh.. I can stay behind and keep looking for clues while you all investigate other places! We don’t have a lot of time, so I’ll do this!” Himiko declared. Kokichi stared ahead distantly.  “..I’ll stay too.”

“Are you two sure you’ll be alright here?” He frowns, disappointed from the fact he and Kokichi would be separated again. 

Himiko gives a thumbs up. “We’ll be fine. I’ll make sure to keep Ouma out of trouble with my magic!” Kokichi just scoffed.  Shuichi gave a nod, smiling at them both. “See you soon..” He directed his gaze to Kokichi. “Let’s investigate together again when you’re done.” 

Kokichi snickered in return. “Wooow. Saihara-chan really loves it when I’m by his side, huh? Sure.. whatever you want.” 

He smiled his usual soft smile. “As long as you want it too.” 

Kokichi buried his face in his scarf. “Sure.” 

Himiko looked at the both of them. “..Did you two start dating?”

He spins around to hide his flushed face. “Good luck!” And then darts out of the room. “Yumeno-chan! I can’t believe you flustered him like that, it’s cruel!” Kokichi cried.

“Huh!? Flustering people isn’t a crime or something!” Himiko argued back. 

The three of them leave the room, then Tsumugi lets out a shrill scream. “What’s wrong!?” Then he sees it, Kiibo and the Exisal going at it. Their attacks fly everywhere, even towards them. While Maki runs to the side he grabs Tsumugi by her arm and pulls her away from the blast that collides with the roof over the hidden door. Debris falls and he topples over from the force of it all. 

“Are you alright? I didn’t injure any of you did I?” Kiibo’s voice holds worry as he helps Shuichi stand.

“I.. I’m okay, but..” His eyes travel towards the hidden door, the debris covering any opening to the entrance. “No..” Kokichi and Himiko were still in there.

He breaks into a run towards the rubble, attempting to push even a small part of it aside. “OUMA-KUN! YUMENO-SAN!” 

“What are you waiting for?” Maki glared daggers at Kiibo. “Shoot the rubble away.” 

Kiibo shrunk under the glare. “I.. cannot do that. It’d be dangerous for me to attack it recklessly while they’re stuck in there.”  Shuichi slammed a fist onto the rocks in defeat. “Then get Monokuma and the Monokubs to do it. They.. can’t leave them trapped here if they want to killing game to continue.”

Kiibo glowered at him. “Are you.. suggesting we continue the killing game?” 

He spun around, glowering right back. “No, we’re ending this. There’s a plan.. I just need a bit more evidence.. and then we’ll end it.”

“But what about those two!?” Tsumugi cried out.

“Trust me, I’m worried about them too. But we also have to trust them, trust their strength and believe they’re okay. If we stand around and do nothing.. they’d be mad at us don’t you think?” He smiles to himself. “Let’s avoid that.. I’d rather not get chewed out by them.” 

He knows Tsumugi is only worried about Himiko.. and the fact that she’s alone with Kokichi. He won’t do anything, he trusts him.. and hopes Tsumugi can find the strength to trust him sooner or later.

Kiibo raised a finger. “If you’re looking for clues.. I suggest investigating the classroom on the second floor. I noticed something odd when I was still fighting the Exisals. So hurry up, dawn is approaching.” Kiibo started his weapons up, flying out the room to continue his battle. 

“I’m going to the second floor then.” He informs the two girls. Maki walked past him to the door. “I’ll continue investigating somewhere else.” 

“And I’ll stay here and try to talk to them, and make sure they’re okay!” Tsumugi chimes in. 

He spares the rubble one more glance, eyes creasing in worry, before he exits the library alongside Maki. They run into different directions, and he makes it up the stairs to the second floor. With clammy hands, he pushes the door open.. and inside he’s greeted with a tower of desks. When he steps in, someone runs into his back. 

* * *

“Fuck..” Kokichi wheezed out, staring at the rubble blocking the entrance with exasperation.

“W-What do we do!?” Himiko sprinted to the door and cupped her hands around her mouth. “Heeey! Help! We’re still stuck in here!!” 

He watches her waste her breath with a bit of amusement. Himiko slumped down, rubbing her eyes tiredly. “..I’m tired.. b-but I have to keep going.. and be useful.” She knocks out for a second before snapping back awake. “I’m up!” 

Since Kokichi is used to running off no sleep, this doesn’t really bother him. “You really wanna be useful, why’s that?” 

She blinked at him, playing around with her hat. “I.. I haven’t really done anything the entire time I’ve been here. Even after Tenko died.. I still did nothing. She believed in me.. and I’ve done nothing.” She wiped her eyes before they can fill with tears. “So I have to do something, everyone else is working hard so I have to as well!”

He combs a hand through his hair. “Mm.. okay. I think you’re a little too comfortable around a Remnant of Despair though..” He needs to find some way to pass the time before the others find a way to get them out, so scaring Himiko would do the trick.

Himiko stood, dusting off her skirt slowly. “..I don’t think you’re a Remnant of Despair.” She had successfully and unintentionally made him speechless.  He can only stare blankly as she starts searching the room more carefully this time. “What..?” 

“At first I believed the flashback light.. only because it filled me with hope.. but now that we’ve been around you more.. you don’t seem that dangerous.” She glances at Motherkuma broken down on the floor with distaste. 

“So Yumeno-chan is actually smart outside of magic? Who would’ve guessed!” He jeered. She huffs before spotting a doorway with blue lights illuminating the halls it lead to. “Hey.. check this out.” 

Kokichi makes his way to where she stands, narrowing his eyes at the doorway. “Hidden passage..?” 

Himiko threw her arms in the air, hat flying off her head for a split second. “We found a way out! Thank goodness it didn’t take too long..” 

He shook his head. “We didn’t find it, you did. I hope thats enough to satisfy you. You did something useful.” He shoots her a playful smile before sprinting through the tunnel. 

Himiko felt herself smile. “I was useful..” Then she chased after him, and they run up the elevated pathways, reaching a closed door. He pushes a button so the door slides open.. revealing a bathroom. He steps out the room, grimacing. The  _ girls _ bathroom.

“Agh.. I.. I didn’t want this to lead into the girls bathroom.” Hastily, he gets out of there.. face flushed in embarrassment. Himiko followed him out with a smile. “Don’t worry Ouma, I’ll keep this secret.”  He slides a hand down his face. “I didn’t enter the girls bathroom on purpose!”

Before their banter has a chance to continue, he sees Shuichi running somewhere out of the corner of his eye. “Saihara-chan..?” 

She tilts her head to the side. “What about him? You were the one teasing him for wanting to be by your side.. but you also wanna be by his. Isn’t that hypocritical?” 

“I don’t want to be by his side, I’m actually going to kill him. Later!” He runs down the path Shuichi was running, assuming he needs to run up the stairs since Shuichi wasn’t anywhere else. He makes it to the second floor, catching a glimpse of Shuichi’s uniform and continuing his chase. 

This is different. Shuichi’s always the one chasing after him, is this how it feels reaching for something that won’t allow itself to be reached? In this case though.. Shuichi allows himself to be reached the second Kokichi slams into his back and falls backwards. 

“Ah! Ouma-kun!?” Shuichi reaches a hand out to him, and out of all the other times he was reached out to this time he actually takes it. When he’s lifted up he rubs the back of his head that met with the floor. “That hurt..” 

“S-Sorry! Are you okay?” Shuichi places a hand to where Kokichi was rubbing, making sure his head had no sign of injuries.

“Fine. What are you doing up here?” He questions, peeking his head into the room and taking in the abnormal desk placement.

“Kiibo-kun told me I should investigate this.. I can see why now. How did you get out of the hidden room?” Shuichi pushes one of the desks off the pile. 

“..We can talk about that later.” He doesn’t want to talk about it because of the embarrassment that still lingers, but also because this seems more important. Together they knock the desks down and stare in awe at the futuristic looking keyboard underneath it all.  Shuichi touched the keyboard, and smaller monitors came out of every corner on the larger monitor. The screen lights up and they read off the message. 

“Flashback light set up?” He trailed off, pressing the enter button. A section named ‘Recalled Memories’ came up, listing Ultimate talent, Ultimate hunt, Each motive, and Class funeral. When you scroll through even more memories they already obtained popped up.

He selects ‘unlocking new memory.’ That pulls up a new screen titled ‘select the subject you wish to remember.’ He clicks the survivors, and goes to yet another new screen with multiple scenarios for that memory. 

“So they are fake..” Kokichi laughed bitterly.

It seems like it.. multiple options for one memory that should only hold one truth. It’s all fake.. He selects the survivors on a different planet, ignoring the summary. His head snaps towards the lockers when there’s a clanking sound within it. 

Kokichi pulls the door open, and there sits a freshly made flashback light. So that’s it.. that’s how these things were made. They select a fake scenario and take advantage of their groups cluelessness and desperation to shove these false memories into them. So really.. what is the truth? Why.. are they in this place. Are they even Ultimates? Was that a fake memory too?

The door to the classroom is swung open by Himiko. “Oh! There you are!” 

“Yumeno-san!” A wave of relief washes over him knowing both his once trapped friends are safe.  He brings his attention back to the monitor briefly, but the entire set up reverted back to it’s original state.

“When she swung the door open.. it all disappeared.” Kokichi stated, still processing it himself. Interesting.. a perfect way for the mastermind to hide in case anyone stumbled in accidentally. 

“Can one of you tell me how you escaped the hidden room now?” He requests. 

“Ah.. you don’t know?” A smug grin overtook her face. “Well then.. I escaped with my magic haha!” Then she shrieks when the school starts rumbling again, they’re running out of time..

“A-Alright.. follow me..” She muttered tiredly, leading them back down to the first floor and to the girls bathroom. He stared at the door, then at Kokichi, then Himiko. “Uhm..”

Himiko pushed the door open for him. “Don’t worry! Ouma was already in here so you’re not the only boy entering the girls bathroom today. Your secrets are safe with me!”

“Yumeno-chan! You just exposed my secret!” Kokichi hissed.

Himiko sweat dropped. “Oh.” 

_ It’ll be fine.. it’s for the investigation!  _ With shaky legs he steps into the bathroom, and he just knows Kokichi has a wide mocking grin all over his face. Himiko lead him to the utility closet, opening the door and the door to the hidden passage slides open again. 

Himiko leads them down the elevated pathway, and they end back up in the hidden room. He spots Motherkuma busted up on the floor and steps towards it cautiously. 

“I can’t go on.. I wanted to birth more and more Monokuma’s for eternity..” Motherkuma sobbed.

“Was it really true.. you being able to create spares..” He questioned.

“Of course it’s true!” The broken head spat out. “Since.. it’s the end for me I’ll explain the trick. I have a built-in voiceprint authentication system.. I can’t birth Monokuma’s unless the designated person specifically says ‘birth.’”

Designated person?  “Are you talking about the mastermind?” Motherkuma laughed, long and grating. “Ahahaha.. this killing game-“ It explodes, dying before it finishes the final taunt. Even without the answer to his question, he can only assume it meant the mastermind.

“Saihara..” Himiko tugged at his sleeve. “Was I useful?” 

He flashed her a smile. “Very.. in fact this clue may help us figure everything out. Thank you.”  Himiko’s eyes light up and she cheers once again. Kokichi then complains about being bored of this place, so they take their leave. But once they stepped out of bathroom..

“Huh..?” Maki stood in front of the trio, eyes widening in disbelief.

He puts up his hands defensively, backing when Maki had stepped closer. “H-Harukawa-san! This isn’t what it looks like!” 

“Uh oh, Saihara-chan’s in trouble!” Kokichi giggles, shrinking when Maki redirects her glare at him. 

“C-Calm down Harumaki! I let them in, don’t kill them!” Himiko informed with panic rising in her.  Maki’s glare dropped and she stared at Himiko sadly before sighing. “Whatever.. was it for the investigation?” He and Kokichi nod rapidly, so Maki backs down. “So what do we do now? It’s almost dawn.” 

“..I’d like everyone to meet in the courtyard again.” He looks down to Himiko. “Can you get Tsumugi for me? We’ll be waiting for you there alright?” 

Himiko narrowed her eyes at him under the brim of her hat. “What are you planning?” 

Determination rises in him, he feels confident enough to state this. “Ending this killing game. We’re gonna make Monokuma go into Momota-kun’s trial thinking that’s what it’s for.. and switch it up to Amami-kun’s case.. We found some new evidence that proves Monokuma cheated. Once we call him out for it.. the game has to end since he broke the rules.” 

Maki brings a finger to her chin. “Cheated? How?” 

“Well it’s not Monokuma cheating.. more like the mastermind cheating. I’m pretty sure they’re the actual culprit behind Amami-chan’s murder. Once we expose the mastermind and the unfairness of this game the audience won’t want this anymore.” Kokichi explained. 

Maki and Himiko understood, on board with this idea as well. The mage runs off to search for Tsumugi while the three of them run out to the courtyard. 

“Kiibo-kun! Monokuma! Please stop fighting, we need to talk!” He shouts at the top of his lungs. Thankfully there’s no argument, the fighting comes to an end and all attention is on Shuichi. “We’re finished with the investigation, so start up the final class trial!” 

Monokuma leaped out of the Exisal he was lent. “Investigation? Hey hey I didn’t start one up! There’s no point in that anyway when you can narrow down the choices to Ouma-kun or Harukawa-san!” 

Kiibo stared at Shuichi incredulously before he flew himself down to the group. “Class trial? Are you serious.. you’re really going to go through with a faulty trial like this!?”  Shuichi winces at the way Kiibo’s gaze burns into him, it’s nearly identical to the way he was stared at back then..

“I..” He lowers his head, feeling all his progress of raising his confidence fall down the drain. Maki then grips his shoulder firmly. “We’ll use this trial to end the killing game.” 

Kiibo cocks his head to the side. “To  end  it? All class trials do is continue this cycle. I told you, it never ends and you convinced me that it could.. but you lied.”

“It’s not a lie.” Kokichi argues, even if that statement is very ironic coming from him. “There’s a way.. we can do it. Just trust us and the work we’ve put into this.” 

Himiko and Tsumugi run into the scene. “What’s going on!?”

Maki releases Shuichi’s shoulder from her hold to cross her arms. “Kiibo is being difficult.” 

“If ending the killing game in the right way is being difficult..” Kiibo turns away.

“The right way?” Shuichi repeats with a scoff. “Kiibo-kun.. if you destroy this school and us with it, you’re just doing exactly what Monokuma wants! The trial is something he wants as well.. but using this trial to end the killing game is better than dying without an attempt! We can’t give up, the ending you have in store for us is filled with the same amount of despair our fates do.” 

He and Kiibo lock eyes. “But our lives are hope. As long as we live on after all this ends.. hope lives on.” 

Kiibo stiffens, allowing those to words sink in. “..Hope lives on..” He laughed dryly. “Alright then, you can have your class trial.”

All of them let out a sigh of relief, muttering thank you’s to the robot. He’s then dragged away by the Monokubs who said they’d be taking his weapons away from him and do a bit of fixing on him.

Monokuma raises a paw to his face. “I dont know what you bastards are planning.. but this trial is for Momota-kun! You may have calmed the robot down with your lies, but the purpose for this is set. Don’t try anything!” And like always, he popped away. Don’t try anything? Oh how unfair that would be if they weren’t going through with just that.

The five of them headed to the Shrine of Judgment, taking a moment to sit and regain their strength while awaiting Kiibo’s return. 

Shuichi sat beside Maki, looking over her shoulder to view the bugvac. “What is that?” 

Maki handed it to him so he could get a better look at it. “Ouma said it’s called a bugvac. It’s pretty strong.. but it’s only purpose was to be used on the tiny bugs Gonta always mentioned, so in the end it’s useless.” 

He arched an eyebrow, handing it back to her. “Why did you keep it then?”

Her grip on the vacuum was tight. “It’s the only thing I was able to find in this investigation. That must mean something.. a hidden truth maybe.”  All this talk about hidden truths was starting to get tiring, but it did make sense. Those bugs Gonta saw.. what were they? Are they relevant to all this? 

He shifts his gaze over to Kokichi, whose eyes are on the verge of shutting. He scoots over to him, unintentionally starting to other in the process. 

“Hmm? What’s up?” Kokichi doesn’t attempt to hold up a smile this time. Shuichi fiddled with his hands. “How are you?” 

Kokichi huffed in annoyance. “You should be worrying about yourself.” 

“I’m a bit nervous, and exhausted, but also happy? Happy this is all gonna be over soon..” He says. “I know how I feel, but I don’t know how you feel.” 

Kokichi swung his legs back at forth. “..I’m tired. I hate the fact that we’re even going through with a trial to end this, it’s draining. I just wanna get out of this place with you already.” 

His eyebrows raise slightly. “You wanna get out of here with me?” 

Kokichi had just realized what he said and groaned. “Yes, are you happy? Asking me questions while I’m sleep deprived..”

“Sorry.. we don’t have to talk anymore then. It’s time anyways.” Shuichi’s eyes travel to the entrance, spotting Kiibo running in. 

“Sorry for the wait everyone!” Kiibo’s running came to a halt when he reached them. His weapons are gone.. and on top of his head rests a brand new antenna.  _ Interesting.. _

They all stand, ready to leave, but Kiibo asks for them to stop so they can have one more conversation before they head to the trial room.

“I just wanted to apologize for the way I acted back there..” Kiibo’s voice wobbled. “I shouldn’t have said your deaths would be acceptable if it was to end the killing game.. I’m sorry! Your forgiveness is not necessary, but I still wish.. to fight alongside you!” 

Tsumugi clasped her hands together. “You seem like you’re back to your old self! I’m guessing the maintenance the Monokubs did on you did this?” 

Kiibo nodded in agreement, though a bit confused. “My inner voice has returned as well.. I wonder why it left so suddenly.” 

“Well there’s no time to worry about that! Let’s end this already!” Himiko shouts with raised fists, earning nods from everyone. 

“Wait before we go, what is that?” Kiibo pointed to the bugvac, curiosity in his voice apparent.

“Bugvac. It was supposed to suck up bugs but never collected any, so it’s us-“ Maki didn’t get to finish before Kiibo took it out her hands. “I assume the bugs you wanted to collect were those that Gonta-kun mentioned? Since no actual bugs are in this place.” 

Kiibo brings the bugvac close to his face, allowing his eyes to zoom all the way in. “Oh! There is something actually!” He hands the vacuum back to Maki, and a picture slips out his mouth. Everyone huddled around the robot to see the image of a little Monokuma with wings holding onto a camera.

“Monokuma?” Shuichi took the imagine and examined it more thoroughly. “What are they..” 

“Perhaps we should ask them.” Kiibo suggests. Maki handed him the vacuum again and he brought it close to his ear. “Tell me, what is your purpose or I’ll squish you one by one. 

A few nods, and he looks back at them all. “They call themselves Nanokumas. Apparently they’re apart of the Monokubs. And..” He listens in again. “There is many of them scattered throughout the air of this school. Their function is to record footageof the events unfolding here.. and transmit it to Monokuma.”

Shuichi goes into his thinking gesture. “So that’s how Monokuma always knew every detail of the murders.”  _ The Electrobombs would’ve most likely wiped out the signal of these things too, making Ouma-kun’s unsolvable murder plan more effective..  _

Kokichi must know what he’s thinking with the way he’s staring at him right now. 

Kiibo placed the bugvac down. “That’s all.. did it help?” 

“Yeah! It helped a lot, thank you!” Shuichi reassured him. 

So it was time, they all waited for the elevator to reach them. With bated breaths, they stepped onto it and were ejected underground for the fifth time now. It was dead silent, only the sound of the elevator dropping them deeper and deeper booming throughout their skulls. 

For the first time Kokichi feels genuine terror. For the first time he starts doubting his plans, because it’s not like Kiibo was wrong. This class trial would continue the cycle, and what would happen if they failed? Even if they expose the masterminds identity, they could cheat like they always do.. they’d continue it if they were as desperate as Shuichi said no matter if their identity is exposed. He can’t do this.. he never could.. it’s a waste of time. 

His brain is screaming at him to get out of the elevator, to lock himself in his room again and use his last bits of energy to continue planning, because that’s all an Ultimate Supreme Leader is useful for. Put work into something again just to run away from it in fear and start again, over and over, and fail everyone. Watch everyone meet their deaths because he relies on nothing but his unbelievable intelligence that doesn’t even make sense to him, that never got him anywhere. Everyone was going to die in this trial.  _ They’re gonna die. They’re gonna die. They’re gonn- _

“Ouma-kun.” 

Shuichi’s delicate voice saves him from nearly passing out right then and there. He hums instead of answering, afraid his words would turn into sobs the second he tries to speak. 

“What do you want to do when we get out of here?” Shuichi’s voice is a low, comforting whisper. 

He choked back a sob, whispering back. “You think this is gonna work? That we can end this, and then after we live on for everyone who died?” 

He takes in Shuichi’s expression, it’s filled with the same trepidation that overtakes his entire being.That’s right, he’s not the only one here terrified this will all go wrong. But Shuichi’s somehow still able to muster up a smile. “Yes, I do. I believe in this work you and I put into this.” 

And the belief doesn’t sound as blind as before.. it feels so incredible having someone believe in him after so long. He leans against Shuichi’s arm, taking Shuichi’s hand in his own. He hopes that’s enough to get his point across, because he might really end up sobbing in the middle of this elevator if he pours his heart out right before what might be the end of their lives. 

Shuichi squeezed his hand, staring ahead because he also doesn’t think he can handle looking into those violet eyes and accidentally start crying in front of everyone. The elevator stops, everyone exchanges looks before they step out into the trial room that will hold their final class trial.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 10k word chapter ,, i did not think this chapter would end up this long ,, damn you character interactions i crave ! 
> 
> those flashback light memories they received randomly ,, i just didn’t add them cause they made more more confused than informed when going through the game . the cold sleep room one feels like the only one that had something to affect the story but it wouldn’t work on here since shuichi stopped believing the lights were truthful 
> 
> so it might take a while for the final chapter to be uploaded, since i’m still figuring out how the trial will play out 
> 
> for now i hope this long long chapter satisfied you ^_^


End file.
